Inspiring Young Readers

posted on 26 Jul 2026

A Holiday for Bear by Duncan Beedie

I strongly believe that there can never be enough picture books about bears because they lend themselves to such a wide range of (usually friendly) characteristics. This one by Duncan Beedle reintroduces the reader to the very large, lumbering fellow who is renowned for making the best of things, despite coping with mishaps along the way. I very much enjoyed the first book in the series by this author/ illustrator, The Bear Who Stared, which uses a retro drawing style with strong blocks of colour and simple shapes.  

The distinctive cover once again shows Bear’s head and shoulders filling the page as he looks out steadily at the reader. This time, he is smiling and wearing rather dazzling sunglasses with a pineapple trim, so that we are pretty sure that he is looking forward to his holiday. When I recently shared this story with a group of four-year-olds, several were keen to suggest that he might be going abroad because of the bright sunny background and guessed at Greece, Turkey or Egypt. One boy quietly pointed out that bears usually prefer somewhere a bit cooler because of their very thick coats.  

The story begins with him greeting his many animal friends as he takes his regular morning stroll:

‘Bear plodded along the same old path, past the same old boulders and the same old bushes and trees’. 

Like many of us, he likes his familiar routines and comforts but sometimes craves something a bit different.  Frog suggests that a holiday might do the trick and so he begins to imagine some exciting possibilities. Having discounted skiing as ‘too cold’ and adventures as ‘too scary’ he packs all the things that he needs for the beach, which we agreed was an excellent choice. We liked the double page spread that shows him standing triumphantly on his packing case that is perched precariously on a rock as he admires the wonderful seascape, and talked about how he might have travelled there. On the turn of the page, we gasped as we zoom in the see the tantalising ocean reflected in his sunglasses as he takes it all in. We laughed out loud at his determined attempts to get comfortable and then to have fun on the beach. He is clearly enjoying himself, but is missing his friends as well. He particularly loves swimming deep beneath the waves and discovering all the beautiful shapes and colours:

‘If only Frog was here to see this…’

Bear is a tremendously likeable character because he always positive and tries to be creative too. We were very impressed with his sand sculpture and talked about how difficult it was to carve recognisable shapes with wet sand. You will need to read the story for yourself to find out what happens next, but the overall message seems to be not to spend a lot of time money and energy on expensive holidays – exactly what I think! 

I strongly recommend this gentle picture book which will encourage plenty of discussion and reflection, especially as many children never have the opportunity to go on holidays. I can also see how the strong illustrations will inspire art work relating to different environments, including home. Published by Templar, it is now available from your local independent bookshop, who will happily order it if not already on their shelves.   

Karen Argent

July 2026