Bear's First Christmas Hardcover – Picture Book, October 2, 2007

My daughters love this beautiful book. But I was so impressed with the way it was packed. I could see the person who packed it took a lot of time and heart. I will definitely order more books from this company.

If you used to be Christian and are now Atheist, you understand the true meaning of Christmas and would like to share some of that glow with your kids, but without the religion or religious figures, this is a great book. It has none of the commercialism either, the giving of presents, nor Santa Claus.A young bear trying to settle in for hibernation finds various animals in need and helps them all out. They hear music and follow it to a house where there is singing from inside, a glow from a lit tree, a glow from within. Following that, they 'sing' on the way back to the den and find that the tree in front of bear's den glows as if touched by the same light. The new friends carry that glow with them thereafter.Beautiful story.Of course if you're Christian, you'll be getting a story that has religious meaning and figures. If you celebrate christmas and want nothing whatsoever to do with possibly vague religious overtones, Santa clause books are for you - otherwise, let me know what you find.

I bought this book because of the gorgeous cover art, but the story is just as precious. I actually bought it for my nephew, who will celebrate his first Christmas this year. This story is meant for 4-8 year olds. Bear begins his winter nap all alone in a cave beside a meager little tree, but is awakened. As the story progresses, Bear meets new friends, and they all end up peering into the window of cozy home, watching a family joyfully celebrate Christmas. The animals don't understand the words of the Christmas carols or the meaning of the lights on the tree, but the Christmas "glow" they've witnessed inspires them to improvise their own version of a Christmas carol as they make their way back to Bear's cave. When they reach the cave, the little tree is covered in snow and bathed in moonlight so that it has the same "glow" that the family's Christmas tree has. You can read the rest......A truly magical story.

I bought this book for my newborn son as an early Christmas present. It's absolutely beautiful -- the artwork AND the story! The story is written in a sort of Seuss-ish rhyme scheme. I read it to him for the first time the other night, and I can tell it's going to be one of those books that we will read every Christmas and cherish. I highly recommend this book!

Purchased this book on a whim and it quickly became one of our all-time favorites. From the story to the illustrations to the message of love and light no matter how near or far we are to those we love... Beautiful.

One of our holiday favorites! Wonderful message and fun to read.

Cute story and illustrations.

A great Christmas book for kids. Heartwarming and well illustrated. A classic that adults will enjoy too.

I absolutely love the illustrations in this book (I think they're done in chalk or pastel) - that's what drew me to buy it. The illustrations inside are just as wonderful as the cover and are rendered with beautiful detail - from the snowy breath of the animals to the footprints in the snow to the soft illumination of light on a dark snowy night.Bear's First Christmas tells the story of what happened when a young bear awakes from hibernation in his cave and goes out to investigate a sound he has heard.The story is told using poetry which makes reading it so much more fun i.e., "It started to snow, and a bear, very young, caught two or three flakes on the tip of his tongue."This book is a beautiful read although the illustrations tell the story even without the words. I confess I bought the book for the pictures alone - and was not disappointed!!!