The Third Bear

Written by

Dale Hubert

Illustrated by

Emily Baxter

(c) 2009

(V. Oct 16, 2011)

Dear Journal:
I don’t like writing in my journal.
There. I’m finished. Mama told me to write my thoughts in my new journal and I did. Good for me.

Dear Journal:
I knew it wouldn’t work. Mama said writing about not wanting to write didn’t count. She said it was a bad idea. Do you want to know another bad idea? Writing in journals.

Dear Journal:
GGGRRRRRRR!
The end.

Dear Journal:
That didn’t work, either. Mama told me I was supposed to write about my feelings,

and GGGRRRRRRR! is how I feel.

That’s the way you feel sometimes, especially if you are a bear.

And I am.

GGGRRRRRRR!

Dear Journal:
I am being home-schooled and I like it, mostly. I like learning to give thanks to Mother Nature when

I catch a salmon or when I find fresh blueberries. I like learning how my grandparents lived.

I like learning how to make wise decisions and I like learning how to survive in the woods.

The only thing I don’t like is writing in this journal.

GGGRRRRRRR!

Dear Journal:
I like porridge. I like porridge with bananas. Or porridge with honey. I especially like porridge with honey.

I also like porridge with brown sugar. And a little honey. And some bananas. And some more honey.

I don’t like it when it is too hot. I don’t like it when it is too cold. You probably know how I like it.

Dear Journal:
Mama makes the porridge in our house. She makes it and puts some in a big bowl for herself so she can tell if it’s too lumpy or too runny. Then she puts some in my bowl. When papa comes into the kitchen he’s always hungry so mama takes porridge right from the pot and puts it in his bowl and it’s always too hot. Mine is just right. By now mama’s is too cold. Here’s the part I don’t understand. Papa always says we should go for a walk in the woods and when we come back our porridge will be just right. But my porridge is already just right and mama’s porridge is already too cold. Mama’s porridge won’t be any better after a walk and mine will be worse. But some mornings, papa can be a grumpy bear and when he says, “GGGRRRRRRR!” he really means it, so off we go for a walk in the woods.

Dear Journal:
Today I told my parents I didn’t want to go for a walk in the woods to wait for Papa’s porridge to get cooler and for Mama’s porridge to get warmer (as if that was going to happen) and that I wanted to stay home and eat my porridge just the way it was. Papa said no, because I wasn’t responsible enough to be left alone. Mama said no because I would make a mess and not clean it up. But I argued and said yes, I would be responsible, and yes, I would clean up the kitchen. In fact, I said, I would clean the whole house! Papa and Mama smiled at each other, then went for their walk. Now I have a house to clean, and I don’t like that. GGGRRRRRRR! And now my porridge is cold. Grrr.

Dear Journal:
I have learned how to keep the house clean, how to not make a mess when I eat, and how to do the dishes. I am responsible. So each day when Papa and Mama go for walks, I stay home and eat my porridge, just the way I like it. I like having time to myself. I think I am growing up.

But I still can’t think of things to write in my journal.

Dear Journal:
Today I have something to write. It is important. It is a big deal.

Oh, Papa and Mama are coming home.

I will write later.

Dear Journal:
Someone is watching our house when Papa and Mama go for walks.

I think it is a human girl. I am going to lie in wait, like only a young and fierce bear can.

Dear Journal:
It is a human girl! This morning, after Papa and Mama went for their walk, I stayed home and peeked out the window. There she was. She was creeping closer and closer to my house.

So I stood up in front of the window and in my loudest voice I said, “GGGRRRRRRR!”
And she said, “Oh, how cute – it’s a teddy bear!”

(the story doesn’t end here… there’s much more, but I didn’t want to give it all away just yet.)

]]> http://mytravelteddy.com/wordpress/?feed=rss2&p=446 0 http://mytravelteddy.com/wordpress/?p=440 http://mytravelteddy.com/wordpress/?p=440#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:06:00 +0000 admin http://mytravelteddy.com/wordpress/?p=440 I’ve just put the finishing touches on my first book. On the weekend I worked with a narrator to lay down the vocal track. Emily Baxter is working on the illustrations, and soon the book will be previewed on YouTube. Not surprisingly, it ties in with this site. Very exciting times!

www.KidsPartiesbyTonette.shutterfly.com

We will be starting our own adventure with our Noah’s Ark Animal Workshop My Traveling Teddy in the Genesee County area of New York State. If your group is interested, contact me directly for your Teddy and journal.

They have increased their writing skills while tending to other children’s bears and keeping journals.

This monument below shows the eqautor in Ecuador. My Travel Teddy moved from the northern to the southern hemisphere in two steps!

These street entertainers from Argentina met My Travel Teddy in Quito, Ecuador.

This very attractive marine iguana from the Galapagos came a little closer to see My Travel Teddy.

It’s an exciting opportunity. I’ve met some of the students I’ll have next year, but there will be some changes, so it’s hard to make plans this far in advance. I have some fun ideas in mind, though.

In the meantime, I’m enjoying team-teaching the best grade 3 & 4 students imaginable.

“Nana, I really like this white dress. Can I try it on?”

“Sure, honey. I’d love to see what you look like in it.”

Later on Emily and her Nana finished up their shopping and were so exhausted they decided to go to the Foodcourt.

“Ahhh, this is much better.” Sighs Emily’s Nana as she sits down with her food, and starts looking in her purse for her hand sanitizer.

“Nana, could I have Lola? I put her in your purse.”

“Lola? What are you talking about?……….Oh, do you mean this?” Says Nana as she holds up the picture of Lola.

“Yes. Thank-you, Nana.” Emily cries with joy as she grabs Lola and gives her a ‘bear’ hug.

The two kindred spirits, Emily and her Nana, enjoy the rest of their lunch together. Emily tells the story of how she made Lola and left her in Nana’s purse. They were so caught up talking that when they got up to leave they left Lola behind.

Lola was left on the table, staring straight up at the ceiling.

“Where did they go?” Lola wonders.  “Oh darn, I wish I was a real stuffed bear because then I wouldn’t be so barely noticeable. Now what will happen to me?” With tears in her eyes she says, “Someone help me, please!”

With that a flash of light and a bit of sparkle appeared, and out of it walked a little green pixie.

“Do you want to be a real stuffed bear?” She asks Lola.

“Yes but I can’t, can’t I ?”

“While you wait at this table you could do a lot of good deeds and then good things will happen to you.”

“But, I am just a piece of paper. I could never do any good deeds.”

“Just wait and you’ll see.” The pixie disappears as quickly as it came.

Lola lays there trembling in fright. Just then a family sits at the table. Their little baby boy cries because he sad.

“Look at this.” Says his mother as she picks up Lola. “It’s a picture of a bear. It looks like a little girl bear.” The  baby boy giggles in delight. Now that he is happy his mother picks him up and the family moves on.

“Oh, I feel so good knowing that I could make that baby smile.”

“I’ll wait over here for you.” A man says to his wife as he sits at Lola’s table. Looking around and tapping his fingers he quickly gets impatient. Then he sees Lola. Picking her up, and turning her over, he pulls a pen out of his pocket and starts doodling on the back of her. When his wife comes he gets up to go and leaves Lola there.

“Well, that was close. I thought maybe he’d throw me in the garbage. At least, I gave him something to do.”

Lola is no longer trembling and feels pretty good about helping people. So when an elderly lady sat down Lola felt ready for the challenge. And, had no idea what was in store for her. The elderly lady slowly eats her food and slowly drinks her drink. Then carefully she picks up Lola, and dabs her face with the back of Lola.

“Yuck. Stop doing that!” cries out Lola. Immediately the little old lady stops, gets up and puts all her leftovers in the garbage can. Lola was caught in the middle of it and down she went.

 “Yuck, I’m in the garbage. But, I am not garbage. I let that man write on me. Because of me that little baby boy giggled. And just because someone wiped their face with me doesn’t mean I’m garbage. Really, I was just helping people. And the pixie said that good things would happen to me if I helped people. I wonder if that is really true because look at where I am now.”

Just at that time Emily runs back to the table. She looks at the table and in all the garbage cans.

“Lola, where are you?” Then Emily saw the sparkle in Lola’s eyes and knew that this was no ordinary piece of paper but her Travel Teddy, Lola. She picks Lola up, straightens her out, and gives her a big hug, “Lola, just so you won’t be barely noticeable anymore I am going to make you into a stuffed bear.”

As Lola got carried off by Emily, she saw the pixie wink her eye at her.

the girls are enjoying lunch at applebees.  Flatbears ordering from the menu.

Flat bears izzy and sal waiting for their orders