The Dancing Bear cover art

The Dancing Bear

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The Dancing Bear

By: Michael Morpurgo
Narrated by: Sir Ian McKellen
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About this listen

A gentle and deeply moving story of a young girl and her bear, told with great charm by a master storyteller.

High in the mountains, in a tiny village, an abandoned bear cub is adopted by a lonely orphan child. Soon they are inseparable, beloved by the whole village – safe, until the arrival of a glamorous film crew who need a dancing bear…

 Animals Animals & Nature Fiction Growing Up & Facts of Life Literature & Fiction Music & Performing Arts

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Critic reviews

It’s rare to find a story that combines so successfully a contemporary plot and modern morality with a feel for legend and fairy tale.
She Magazine
All stars
Most relevant

Have you listened to any of Sir Ian McKellen’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I'm not sure if he has done any other audiobook readings, but this reading is beautiful. It's quite a simple story but his reading elevates it to make it even more meaningful and beautiful.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, this book made me cry the first time I listened to it, years ago, when I was a little girl. Ian McKellen's gorgeous reading combined with the lovely music make it a very emotional listen.

Any additional comments?

It's a short book, so if you're looking for a longer listen then maybe it's not the best use of an audible credit. I bought it with my own money as opposed to a credit.

Memories of my childhood!

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a great short story , very well narrated and surprise ending . Highly recommend Michael Morpurgo as a children’s author. I have read most of the books after the age of 40!

Sudden death of the bear was sad … moving as usual true Morpurgo style

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Ian McKellen’s voice is just perfect for this story - in fact, it’s perfect for any story as far as I’m concerned! The story is sweet and moving, but unfortunately the whole experience is very nearly ruined by the awful, unnecessary and invasive music. It comes up multiple times and adds absolutely nothing; if anything, it took me out of the story and had me gritting my teeth with frustration. If you’ve got Ian McKellen to do your reading, why stick this din over the top? It’s not like he needs any help... such a shame, as this could so easily have been perfect.

Nearly ruined by invasive music

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This audiobook is one of my earliest memories of audiobooks having had it on cassette tape. It is a beautiful story and still brings tears to my eyes whenever I hear it.

A childhood classic

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One of my favourite parts of this as a kid was the music and while the story is still great and I recommend both that and the narrator, I'm sad that it cuts off the music at the beginning and the end which is one the original cassette tape I still own.

Lacks Music

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