Books about teddy bears for toddlers
Everyone loves their teddy bear! Here is a selection of heart-warming books about teddies, or about bears who are cuddly and love hugging. These stories will be ideal for sharing together when snuggled up, especially at bedtime.
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The Bear
Author: Raymond Briggs
Publisher: Penguin
Interest age: 3-6
Reading age: 6+Young Tilly is delighted when a polar bear clambers through her bedroom window one night - but are mischievous polar bears really ideal domestic pets? The Bear is a warm story about kindness, caring, and letting go.
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I Send You a Hug
Author: Anne Booth Illustrator: Åsa Gilland
Publisher: Puffin Books
Interest age: 4-5
A heart-warming, uplifting picture book about the connection between you and someone you love, even if they’re far away.
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A Bear Hug at Bedtime
Author: Jana Novotny Hunter Illustrator: Kay Widdowson
Publisher: Child’s Play
Interest age: 3-7
Reading age: 5+This is a delightful picture book with appealing illustrations and a gentle story about the power of the imagination and the fun of play, featuring a highly inclusive cast of characters.
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The Best Kind of Bear
Author: Greg Gormley Illustrator: David Barrow
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Bear is a very sweet little bear, but he doesn’t know what type of bear he is. Spectacled? Grizzly? Polar? He meets them all but none of them seem quite right - until his best friend Nelly helps him discover that he's the best kind of bear there is. An adorable friendship story that's perfect for young animal lovers.
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That's Not My Teddy...
Author: Fiona Watt Illustrator: Rachel Wells
Publisher: Usborne
Reading age: 4+Touch-feely book with colourful illustrations and simply text
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Sleep Tight, Teddy!
Author: Annie Kubler
Publisher: Child's Play
Interest age: 0-1
Board book with cuddly toy teddy to help with talking to your baby at bedtime
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Snow Bear
Author: Tony Mitton Illustrator: Alison Brown
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Interest age: 3-5
A small bear is searching for a winter home. Everywhere he tries is occupied, until he finds a cottage inhabited only by one small girl, who welcomes him inside.
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Elmer and the Lost Teddy
Author: David McKee
Publisher: Andersen Press
Interest age: 0+
Reading age: 5+In this republication of a 1999 title, McKee shows young readers that we each have special things which nobody else loves quite as we do.
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Cheer Up Your Teddy Bear, Emily Brown!
Author: Cressida Cowell Illustrator: Neal Layton
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books
Interest age: 3-6
Reading age: 5-7Emily Brown and her sidekick rabbit, Stanley, are back – and this time, they're on a mission to cheer up one very unhappy teddy bear. Another lovely story of friendship and humour from the author of How To Train Your Dragon and illustrator Neal Layton.
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Bear’s Wash Day
Author: Nicola Kent
Publisher: Little Tiger
Interest age: 2-3
Can you help Bear do the washing by lifting the flaps and turning the wheels? Lots of interactive fun for babies and toddlers, which will improve their fine motor skills.
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Meet Happy Bear
Author: Carles Ballesteros
Publisher: Words & Pictures Press
Interest age: 0-3
Reading age: 5+Happy Bear is smiling, until suddenly – he’s not! How can we make Happy Bear happy again? A sweet first book for little ones that ends in a hug.
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Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?
Author: Martin Waddell Illustrator: Barbara Firth
Publisher: Walker Books
Interest age: 3+
Reading age: 6+Little Bear just can't get to sleep because he is afraid of the dark. Big Bear is patient and brings bigger and bigger lanterns to keep away the darkness. Still Little Bear is afraid, so Big Bear takes him outside to see the moon and the stars. Finally, cuddled up in Big Bear's arms, Little Bear goes to sleep, allowing Big Bear to finish reading his book. Th…
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The Everywhere Bear
Author: Julia Donaldson Illustrator: Rebecca Cobb
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books
Interest age: 4-5
This picture book about a missing toy bear somehow seems like a classic already - with a lovely whiff of nostalgia about it all, while also feeling very current and gently inclusive.
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Hugless Douglas
Author: David Melling
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Interest age: 2+
Reading age: 4+Douglas, a young brown bear, wakes up one spring needing a big hug. A large round rock is too heavy and a tall tree doesn't feel right, especially the splinters.
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A Brave Bear
Author: Sean Taylor Illustrator: Emily Hughes
Publisher: Walker Books
Interest age: 3-5
A book for families, for dads and for illustration fans, this is in the same territory as the phenomenally successful Guess How Much I Love You, but with a subtler sentimentality that might appeal to a new generation of parents.
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The Bedtime Bear
Author: Ian Whybrow Illustrator: Axel Scheffler
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Join Bedtime Bear as he journeys to a variety of places on his way to bed, in this superb lift-the-flap book for young children.
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Bear Shaped
Author: Dawn Coulter-Cruttenden
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Interest age: 2-6
This beautiful picture book is based on the true story of a family’s public search for a missing toy. The Jack of the illustrations are utterly convincing, a testimony to the fact that the illustrator worked so closely with the ‘real’ Jack (who happens to be on the autistic spectrum). Delicate, timeless artwork also cleverly incorporates all sorts of satisfy…
