A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker

In this book, we meet Bear right away. Bear has a sign on his door that says “No Visitors Allowed.” One day, however, he hears a knock at his door. When he answers the door, there’s a mouse. Bear immediately says “No visitors allowed,” and he sends the mouse on his way. However, when he goes back to his house, and he continues to get his breakfast ready, the mouse appears in an obscure location inside his house. He sends him on his way again. The cycle continues to happen each time Bear tries to continue his morning routine. And each time the mouse reappears, Bear gets more and more frustrated.

Finally, the bear gives up. He has had enough. So the mouse quietly asks Bear for some cheese, a cup of tea, and a nice fire. Bear agrees to this but says he must go immediately when they are done. Mouse agrees. Mouse and Bear have a lovely time talking and enjoying each other’s company with their snack and fire, but mouse holds up his end of the deal. As soon as they are done, Mouse gets ready to leave. Bear tries to get Mouse to stay just a little longer, but Mouse continues on his way. Finally, Bear throws himself in front of the mouse and begs him to stay. Mouse points to Bear’s “No Visitors Allowed” sign. Bear says, “That’s for salesman, not for friends!” The story ends with the two new friends enjoying tea again.

Outside of the story being a sweet connection made between a mouse and a bear, I love how the author chose to use the text to emphasize parts of the text. As Bear gets more and more frustrated, the text gets bigger and bolder. It’s such a fun visual making it nearly impossible to read without adding extra emphasis to Bear’s voice! The story is a sweet one about friendship. The illustrations are soft and beautiful with little details adding to the story. The line “and there was the mouse” is repeated many times throughout the book. My kids loved to help fill those words in once they noticed the repetition. It is a fun read-aloud with kids!

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclaimer for more info.