Just One of Those Days

Everyone in the Bear household wakes up late one morning from a bad night, so it’s a scrabble for Mr and Mrs Bear to get to work on time and Baby Bear to get to Nursery – and a rainy morning too.

When Baby Bear gets to Nursery, he wants to go home: after a nice storytime, he feels a bit better until someone else plays with his favourite dinosaur AND drinks out of his favourite red cup.

Meanwhile, Mrs Bear has sat on her glasses and fallen asleep at her desk and Mr Bear has spilled coffee all over some papers. What a day!

Thankfully, when it’s time to go home at the end of a long day, it’s time to put on cosy pyjamas and have pizza for tea.

Jill Murphy’s delightful return to the Bear family from Peace at Last is full of her stunning full-page colour artwork which perfectly depicts the trials and tribulations of daily life with little ones. This time, it’s the day after a sleepless night (or at least, probably a disturbed night) and what that looks like for tired mums, dads and pre-schoolers who nevertheless still have to go to work and Nursery.

As well as being completely relatable for families with little ones, there’s a comforting feel to Jill Murphy’s picture books that remind us that, if we’ve had a tough day (or night), there’s always something comforting and simple like a cup of tea or a pizza, and a cuddle, which will make it all right. Lovely.