Sleep tight little bear

ABOUT THE BOOK
FAMILY ACTIVITIES

text: Martin Waddell / illustrations: Barbara Firth

The little bear finds a little cave to play in, and when night falls, he wants to sleep in it, but he is preoccupied by what the big bear feels when he is left alone. This is a story about the child’s need and desire for independence, accompanied with the sensitivity of expressing the parents’ feelings as they watch their child grow.

Family Activities

This warm book illustrates the beautiful and special relationship between the two bears. The Big Bear loves the Little Bear, but her love does not conflict with giving the Little Bear the space to move away, to experiment, to decide for himself and to be independent. The Big Bear supported the ...

Video

Dear Parents,

While the Big Bear is busy, the Little Bear goes out to play. He finds a small cave and decides that he has become big enough and makes it his home. The Big Bear helps the Little Bear to move his items and prepare his new cave, and allows him to stay and sleep there, but the Little Bear misses the Big Bear, and returns to the cave and sleeps in her lap.

Our children feel empowered, so they demand, object, and argue. This book invites us to support our children to be independent, through the model that the Big Bear has given us. It is important that we allow children to experience, clear boundaries, while keeping them safe and secure, and feeling that we support them and that we will be there when they need us.

Family Activities

About the feelings of the two bears: We can follow the feelings of the two bears with our children, we can name them and we can talk about the reasons they feel this way.
About the preoccupation of parents and children: The Big Bear was busy with household chores, and the Little Bear found something to occupy itself with at that time. We can ask our children: What do they like to do when the parents are busy?
-About private space: The Little Bear found a cave that he considered his favorite place. We can ask our children about their favorite place/corner. Why do they prefer it? What do they like to do on their own?
-About private space: The Little Bear found a cave that he considered his favorite place. We can ask our children about their favorite place/corner. Why do they prefer it? What do they like to do on their own?
-About empowering our child and making them feel capable: The Little Bear organized and cleaned his cave and made his own bed. We can talk to our child about the things they can do on their own.
About independence and support: The Little Bear felt big. We can talk to our child about what it feels like to be grown up. We can also ask them if there are things that make them feel small, and we also ask them: How would you like us to support you?
We exchange roles: the parents act out the children’s role, and the children act out the parents’ role. After that, we can talk about our feelings, our thoughts, and our behavior. We can listen to our children and try to understand what they think, how they feel and how they see us.
A Tent: We can build a tent out of sheets and pillows with our children. We can read a bedtime story to our child.
Capability Album: Together, we can browse the pictures of our child from birth until today, and we can talk with them about things they were unable to do, and about things that they are able to do now.