I received an electronic ARC from Clavis Publishing through NetGalley.
A simply illustrated book with easy to follow text. Bear does not want to sleep. Instead he wants to travel with his friends Elephant and Chicken to follow the birds and see where they go. The three set out on this adventure until Bear becomes so sleepy he has to rest. Elephant and Chicken get everyone home and Bear falls asleep for his usual winter nap.
Preschoolers will appreciate the simplicity of the text and illustrations but it feels like a read it once book.

The bear doesn´t want to go to do his well deserved winter sleep as usually, because he would rather know where the birds are leaving in the winter. Going to a warm place sounds more appealing but can be beat nature?
Bear is Not Sleepy is a kind ´good night´ story which explains in a very simple way - with simple illustrations as well - the simple ways nature usually works. A good winter read as well, because not only bears need more sleep during those long dark nights.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* cute little book, pretty simplistic in story and art but not in a bad way, really love the art style

What an adorable book! Loved the simple and playful illustrations. Bear can’t sleep as winter approaches. A perfect bedtime book for preschoolers as they fight sleep just like Bear!

I love how the illustrations are simple, yet fun to look at and see what is in each picture. Bear and his friends go on an adventure to try and tire him out so he can go to sleep.

The gist of this story is the Bear decides he wants to follow the birds south instead of hibernating, & he drags his friends Elephant and Chicken with him. All along the way, Bear isn't sleepy, though other creatures do sleep. Once they reach the warm place the birds were traveling to, Bear falls asleep, and cries when his friends wake him and wants to go home, because "Bears don't go to warm places in the winter. Bears sleep in the winter." The group just happen to find a hot air balloon that Elephant blows air into, and they fly back home, where the text says "Bear finds a nice cozy place to go to sleep for the winter. Because that's what bears do."
So, here are the problems I have with this story: I'm okay with these animals hanging out together, even though this would not be very likely to happen in the real world, because I'm all for unusual friendships in kids stories, your friends don't have to look like you, that sort of thing. Bear is kind of a jerk about going south to follow the birds, though- he doesn't consider his friends' feelings about leaving, he just drags them along- what the heck, Bear? It's not an easy journey, either. Then the first thing he wants to do when they get there is go home. I can handle them finding an extremely convenient hot air balloon, but it should at least work properly- Elephant shouldn't be able to just blow air into it to make it fly, that's just going to cause confusion. And Bear's nice cozy place to sleep for the winter? He plops down on the grass and goes to sleep. That isn't a nice cozy place, that's a frozen bear the first time it snows! Put Bear in a cave so he won't die of exposure, don't pretend bears just flop anywhere to hibernate! Put some proper nature science in there! Also, I'm not sure what the message is supposed to be, it's pretty vague- different people/creatures do different things, do your thing, not theirs? I don't know. The art is simple and cute though, so there's that. It's an okay story, but could be improved.

#BearIsNotSleepy #NetGalley

This is a children's book about a Bear who is getting ready to hibernate for the winter, but his friends Elephant and Chicken come along and they end up accompanying him on a journey to follow some migrating birds. It is a fun adventure story with nice illustrations. My daughter enjoyed it and it was the perfect length for her to focus on without getting distracted.

Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A cute simple story about a bear who didn't want to hibernate.
Perfect bedtime story for my 4 year old as it was short and Didnt get her brain working too hard !

Winter is fast approaching and Bear is preparing for his long winter's nap. He looks up and sees birds flying overhead in the sky. They are flying south to warmer temperatures and he decides he'd like to go there too. He doesn't seem sleepy yet and he'd love the adventure of skipping out on his hibernation ritual.

His friends elephant and chicken decide to accompany him on this very long trek to find "warm." They pass through a dark forest, float across a river, cross a great cliff, ( he's not feeling sleepy yet ), and through a desert, (he's not even sleepy yet), then he spots the warm place across the water and he's... beginning to feel... a bit tired... now. Oh my!

Will bear make it to his long-awaited destination or will his weary body cave? Will he finally succumb to sleep or will he cozy down and spend his winter with the birds in the land of warm?

This delightful book is about adventure, friendship, and being yourself. The illustrations are simple and small so it will work best one-on-one rather than in a group. Bear discovers that home is where the heart is and his own bed, in his own cave, is best for him. I recommend this book.

Bear is preparing to hibernate through the winter while his friends Elephant and Chicken take him on a colourful adventure bwfore he goes to sleep for his long hibernation period. Showing the joy of sharing life and adventure with friends through cute colourful illustrations to accompany the story.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Following in the theme of using books to help my children understand a new concept, I was hoping this book would help my son realize that HE NEEDS TO GO TO SLEEP! We are on week 3 of a horrible sleep cycle where my son will not sleep unless he’s in our bed. When he gets put into his bed, at some point he sneaks back into our room and curls up next to me.

This was a cute story. It’s time to hibernate, but Bear sees some birds flying south for the winter. He decides that he should go follow those birds rather than going to sleep. His friends are confused, but trek along with him because hey – that is what friends do.

So over many obstacles, and through many places they have never been before, they follow. Elephant and chicken are TIRED. Even on the cover of the book, they are sleeping while Bear travels on. That is some good friendship goals right there.

I won’t spoil the ending, but I think we all know where this is going.

My 2-year old son’s review:
Me: Soooooo – what do you think?
Son: BEAR!
Me: Yes – but don’t you just want to go to sleep now? Even Bear needs to sleep.
Son: *yawns* (I do a happy dance in my head) *looks at me* NO SLEEP!

Mom Translation of Son’s Review: He did seem to enjoy this one. It held his attention, and he was able to point when I would ask him questions like “where is chicken!?”

The only thing keeping this from a 5 star review were one of the pictures. The illustrations are simple and easy, very different than a lot of the stories out now. The colors are not as vibrant (because hey – go to sleep already!) But my son kept pointing to the birds and shouting AIRPLANE! And I can’t fault him. He was right, as they do sort of look like airplanes. He didn’t believe me that they were the birds Bear and his friends were following.

Now I fear I have led my son to believe that we should follow airplanes in the sky as they fly all over the world for winter.

Bear is Not Sleepy is a pre-reader book that depicts different animal environment, migration, and hibernation through the tale of a bear and friends. I read this aloud with my 3.5 and 1.5 yr old sons.

I love the concept of this book, but we did not like execution of it. I had hoped and expected from the blurb that this would be a cute bedtime story for my son who is "not tired yet" but actually drops off to sleep once his head hits the pillow, but it's not really a bedtime story.

The illustrations are flat and uninspiring. The message of the book seems to be that some animals must hibernate and some must migrate and some do nothing different in the winter, but all those differences are good and okay. But it was strangely laid out and not a pleasant read-aloud for me as the parent reading to my kids. I had no desire to read this more than once.

At one point, a hot air balloon magically appears so the animals can travel back as they need to, and it felt abrupt and out of place. It's the sort of action in a kid's book that confuses my toddler's brain as he's trying to make sense of the world, and brings up annoying conversations--
"Mommy, why they in a balloon?"
"I don't know, son. The author didn't have better ideas?"

Thank you Clavis Publishing and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Great book about a bear who is not ready for hibernation.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for granting me access to this title in exchange for an honest review.

Bear is Not Sleepy tells the story of a little bear preparing to hibernate for the winter when he realizes that some animals migrate to a warmer place instead of sleeping. That's not fair! Bear wants to go someplace warm, too. Bear and his friends attempt to follow a flock of migrating birds to find this warmer place to spend winter. Will they get there?

The illustrations are adorable, and the plot is clear and entertaining. I tried to include my almost-three-year-old in my review read-through, but she lost interest half-way through, so I would say this book is suitable for Kindergarten age and up.

The repeated "but Bear isn't sleepy... yet" lines would make this an amusing story to read at bedtime, but I think this would also be a great circle time read in a primary grade classroom. I would recommend this to parents and teachers alike.

This is such a cute story. The graphics a bit silly but overall help the viewer understand the story. This was a quick easy read that my son will definitely enjoy over and over again.

This was an okay story, but it felt like something was missing. In my opinion, the story could have flowed a little better.

I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from Jelleke Rijken and Clavis Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I though this was a really cute book about a bear that wants to follow birds instead of hibernating but quickly realizes this may not be the right choice. I love the illustrations and how sleepy everyone gets, I think this would make a great bedtime story.

I adored this book about animal friends who go exploring in winter. The illustrations are exquisite! I fell in love with bear too. So glad he got his winter sleep and had such lovely friends! Many thanks to Netgalley and publisher for providing a digital copy in exchange for my honest review. 5/5 stars.

This is cute story of a young bear who decides that he doesn’t want to go to sleep for the winter. He gets his friends, elephant and chicken to follow the birds who are flying South to warmer places. It’s a cute little adventure story and in the end bear decides he really belongs home, because after all he is a bear and is very, very sleepy.

The illustrations are colorful and fun. Quoting from the book “this is a warm story about adventure and friendship and being yourself”.

I received an arc of this book from the publisher through NetGalley, it is set to publish on November 3, 2020

Will publish to Amazon and Barnes and Noble upon publication.

Another cute hibernation tale for littles! Bear is NOT sleepy- yet. His friends, Elephant and Chicken accompany him on a journey to someplace warm where bears don't hibernate. Of course, that's no the way it works...! Loved the illustrations!