A Sleeping Bear and Woodland Intruders... Hmm... Sounds Familiar...

When I happened upon Don't Wake Up the Bear, written by Marjorie Dennis Murray and illustrated by Patricia Wittmann, I almost mistook it for one of the Karma Wilson / Jane Chapman collaborations about a big, furry, narcoleptic bear and his friends of many species. Reading through the book, the comparison persisted, especially since three of the animals that appear here - the mouse, the hare and the badger - also play a part in that series.

I also was reminded of Room For a Little One, a tender Christmas tale about an ox that shares his stable with several different chilly visitors before welcoming the Holy Family. Not that this book has anything to do with Christmas, but it does feature a series of very cold travelers taking refuge in the fur of a much larger beast. In this case, however, the benefactor is unaware of his generosity.

It's a snowy winter day, and a big, shaggy bear is all snuggled up and fast asleep in his cave. Along comes a hare, who declares, "My ears are so... cold. I wish I could snuggle up with that big, soft, warm bear." And because it's so cold and the bear is sleeping so soundly, the hare does just that. She is soon joined by other creatures, one at a time, each of which has the same thing to say, only about some other body part. The badger has a cold nose, the fox cold legs, the squirrel cold toes and the mouse a cold tail. As each newcomer is welcomed into the bear's den, he or she is warned, "Don't wake the bear." It's a good thing the bear is a heavy sleeper. But with all this company, what if he wakes up?

Murray's repetitive prose has a comforting simplicity about it, while Wittmann's watercolor illustrations are charming, fairly realistic with anthropomorphic expressions. I can't help but wonder if this book was influenced by Chapman and Wilson's Bear Snores On. The premise is practically identical, as are half the interlopers. The pay-off is slightly different, but ultimately the stories are so similar in terms of illustrations and basic plot that I can't help but be suspicious.

Don't Wake Up the Bear! is a cute story that I probably would have enjoyed even more had I not read Bear Snores On first.