William thinks there is a bear living under the stairs in his house. He secretly feeds the bear so that the bear won't eat his family. When mom smells something bad from under the stairs and offers to take a look, William cries no and his mom asks what's wrong. William finally tells his mother about the bear so mom decides to look under the stairs. She shows William that it is an old furry rug thrown over an old chair making it look like a bear. ( )

William is a young boy who is very frightened of what he believes is a big grizzly bear living under the stairs in his house. He is too scared to tell anyone about the bear but he opens the door a little bit everyday to quickly throw food to the bear so the bear won't eat his family. One evening at dinner William's mother asked what that awful smell that seemed to be coming from under the stairs might be and said she thought she should take a look. William yelled "NO" and his mother asked him what could be the matter. William tells his mother all about the bear under the stairs and they decide to investigate together by slowly opening the door to discover and old furry rug thrown over an old chair making it look like a bear.

I think children would relate well to this story because what child hasn't been frightened by something they thought they saw in a dark scarry closet? William's mother handles the situation with such gentleness and love. The next day, William aand his mother go shopping for a stuffed grizzly bear.

Good classroom extensions for this book would be in discussions of feelings and emotions and imagination. ( )

This one is for a younger crowd than those that enjoy Pumpkin Soup. I read it to my two-year-old tonight and although I'm not sure he understood everything, he enjoyed it. I think 3 would be a good age for this one. the illustrations are good, but no where near as wonderful as Cooper's other books. A little boy (English - he has a mum instead of a mom) is afraid of the closet under the stairs because he believes a mean grizzly bear lives there who likes to eat little boys. A good over-coming a childhood fear book, but I don't love it like I do her other books. ( )