Billy Bear Runs Away cover art

Billy Bear Runs Away

And Learns That Often It Is Best to Listen to Our Parents

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About this listen

Billy Bear is a very cute, but somewhat naughty and lazy bear cub. With winter approaching, he decides he is not very interested in hanging around the cave with his family sleeping and - worst of all - behaving. When he runs away, he has some exciting adventures before eventually getting home safe and sound.

©2013 Sammy Dean (P)2014 Sammy Dean Animals Animals & Nature Fiction Literature & Fiction
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Sadly, I'm not a fan how this wee tale turns out.

Billy Bear is a cheeky young cub and not too keen to listen to his mother. Winter arrives and the bears prepare to hibernate, Billy doesn't like the idea of staying in a cave holed up with his siblings and mum all the time.
He sneaks out, but then gets caught out by the falling snow and fails to find his way back home.
He crosses path with a grizzly bear, who chases him at first, but then is very grateful for Billy's help, when he gets caught in a bear trap.

Because Billy helps to nurse the grizzly back to good health, he is welcome to stay in his cave throughout the winter.

I liked the first part of the story, but not the rest of it.
Where is Billy's family in all of this? Are they not looking one bit for their missing son?
And of course, he would never be able to free a bear from a trap.
Ok, I get it, this is fiction, but the story gives kids the wrong idea of those traps, where desperate bears rather likely loose a limb than regain their well deserved freedom.
The message "listen to your parents, they mean well", ok.....but Billy survived, didn't he? And he was never made to understand the reason why they were all staying in the cave together during the cold season, the danger to have to succumb to hunger for lack of food.

However, the narration is simply fabulous.
The young narrator goes all out, to enhance the listener's enjoyment, eg. he creates the sound of the bear walking though heavy snow (and gets a bit breathless doing so). There are parts of the story read outside, obviously, to create a "the bear is in the forest" feeling. Loved it. I wish well established narrators would go to such trouble.

First Class Narration, but...

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