Bear's lost glasses by Leo Timmers

Bear can't find his glasses. He must have left them at Giraffe's house. On the way over to retrieve them, Bear sees all kinds of animals he didn't notice last time: an elephant, a crocodile, a flamingo, a deer. And who's this long spotty snake lying on Giraffe's deckchair?

This is a joyful story that little ones will love to share because they can see where Bear's glasses are, even if he can't, and they will delight in letting him know. But the bonus is that it doesn't end when Giraffe finds Bear's glasses as could be expected, but there is a whole new adventure when Bear goes to show Giraffe all those creatures he thought he saw.

The conversation between Bear and Giraffe carries the entire story - there is no narrative to intervene - and the illustrations also focus entirely on them and their expressions with white space providing the background rather than scenery, making this not only one to encourage young readers to marry the text and the pictures, but also an excellent choice for older students who are investigating narrative and illustrative techniques.

Apart from being just a fun read that will make little ones LOL and tell Bear to go to Specsavers - the power of advertising reaches far - it will also help validate wearing glasses for those who have to but don't want to, perhaps even sparking conversations about how things like glasses or wheelchairs are just there to help us to live our lives better.

Themes: Lost and found, Glasses, Bears, Humour.

Barbara Braxton