‘The Dancing Bear’ is a short story about an elderly teacher, who watches a young girl adopt a bear cub into her family and build a beautiful friendship with it as they grow up together. Roxanne, the young girl, fights to keep her bear living in their country town as he grows larger. As she ages into a woman, Roxanne visits her bear less and less, he becomes desolate and less responsive in her absence. A film crew then arrives, wishing to use the town and the bear in their music video. The quiet, country town is suddenly turned into a set, the people into extras and Roxanne has to decide whether she will leave to pursue her talents or stay with her friends and family.Whilst a beautiful story, ‘The Dancing Bear’ has no real climax and lacks the excitement needed to entrance a group of children into listening through the entire story, which is why I would not use it as a class reading book at the end of the day. However, the story does contain some wonderful descriptions and imagery, making it appropriate as an example in a year three or four Literacy class. It also contains some opportunities to discuss how the characters are feeling, such as Roxanne as she leaves her home or her bear as he is contained in the cage for the safety of others, I would use this in a year two or three class. This story may also appeal to year five or six girls during independent reading.As an adult, I rather enjoyed the simple, gentle story but I do wonder if a group of young children would appreciate it, despite the lack of excitement.
The Dancing Bear is a moving story set in an old fashioned village in the mountains; it follows a young orphan girl, Roxanne. One day Roxanne finds a bear, she names him Bruno and with support from some of the fellow villagers she keeps him. They become best friends and their relationship becomes special and enchanting. When word spreads of Bruno, a film crew arrive to make a music video for a famous rock singer, Niki. Niki talks Roxanne into getting Bruno to dance for his video and Bruno does. Roxanne is heard singing to the bear one evening and Niki asks her to leave the village and Bruno to be a famous singer. She leaves her beloved bear and he sadly dies.This book is wonderful to read as it’s written from someone else’s point of view looking on at Roxanne and Bruno’s relationship. It would be great to read with a Key Stage 2 class, the story is short, captivating and has a grown up edge with serious subject matters. It is easy to read and has beautiful charcoal illustrations which capture the story wonderfully.There are many classroom exercises you could do with this book. The class could write a story with a different ending if Roxanne stayed with the bear, what would have happened? They could act out the book and play different characters showing the different emotions from each character. They could also write a diary from one of the characters point of view and how they felt about the bear being in their village.This book is charming and full of emotion; I would highly recommend giving this book a read.
Do You like book The Dancing Bear (2015)?
This short story, perfectly complemented by Christian Birmingham's beautiful illustrations, is one that every child should read. The little village, tucked away in the mountains, is old-fashioned, cut off from the outside world and everyone is untainted by the modern way of life. "We are a world of our own and we like it that way." The arrival of Niki the world-famous singer and his film crew, contrast oddly with the peaceful, slow-moving world of the village people. Bruno is strong and lovable, and Roxanne a beautiful, gentle girl, who is inseparable from her beloved bear. All the characters have clear-cut personalities - the grandfather crusty and bitter, Tiny cheerful and comical, the narrator a solitary old man, "content with my own company and my music."The illustrations are wonderful - they capture the whole spirit of the mountains, the old-fashioned village, and Roxanne and the bear's happiness. I would recommend this story to anyone, children and adults alike, and also to read any of Michael Morpurgo's other books. "What the eye doesn't see the heart doesn't long for" but in this case I think it would be an offence not to "see" this!
—Conorfinnerty
This book is narrated through the eyes of the villages local teacher. He explains how a small bear came down from the mountains and changed things forever.It's about a lonely girl called Roxanne who befriends this bear and their close bond.It's about an old man who only cares for money ( Roxanne's grandfather) and how he manipulates his grand daughter to use the bear for monetary gain.It's about a film company which is looking for bear to star in it's new music video.Michael Morpurgo has a talent for making his animals come to life, he makes us wish we too could have a bear as our friend. A must read for animal lovers.
—Farhana Imran
I read this book with my year 5 class in SEB, and before I read it I was told it was a great read. I gave this book only 3 stars as it started off as a great read but was disappointed with the ending of the story, however, the children I read it with enjoyed the book. This book is about a little girl who finds a small bear cub and convinces the whole town and her grandad to let her keep it. A famous film crew comes into town and decides to use the bear in one of their songs. The book is great for children as it enhances their vocabulary to a great extent, and I used this book to do most of the vocabulary lessons.
—Monowara
