You know what it's like when you just move into a new house. You've spent ages clearing out tons of old junk, all your worldly possessions are in boxes and you slowly start to fill your new space with all your knick-knacks, bits and bobs, flotsam and jetsam.
I remember when we moved into our current house - some years before Charlotte came along - and thinking we'd never fill that space up.
Some years later, as the bookshelves heave with books and Charlotte's toys are crammed into every available nook and cranny we can definitely feel where ace storysmith Yuval Zommer was coming from when he wrote and illustrated "Big Brown Bear's Cave".
Bear is a lovely character but he just can't seem to throw anything away. You never know when you're going to need an old bike, a kettle, an empty paint pot, a broken broom.
Because Bear can't bear (hah) to throw anything out, his lovely homely cave is slowly filling up - to the point where Bear can't even turn round to scratch his bear behind!
Worse still, Bear's friends find his cave such a squeeze that they've stopped coming over. What on earth can Bear do? Something's definitely got to go. A lot of things in fact!
This is such a fun tale, bristling with energy and originality and though we've said many, many times that we think we'll never see another fantastic bear book, authors such as Yuval are always proving us wrong.
Fabulous, this will keep your little ones entertained for ages as they spot all the things in each super-detailed page spread. And who can resist a lovable old bear in any book?
Charlotte's best bit: Poor bear trying to scratch. Not easy when you're hemmed in by kipple!
Daddy's favourite bit: A hugely original and entertaining bear tale, full of fun with fab themes of materialism vs friendship underpinning Yuval's fabulous illustrations.
(kindly sent for review)
"Big Brown Bear's Cave" by Yuval Zommer is out now, published by Templar Publishing.