I immediately thought it would be a book about bears forced to dance. Instead it is a gentle tale of the love between a young girl and a bear. The whole book is about their relationship. It might represent commercialism/wealth/ money and the new ways against the old ways. In the end the new ways win, and the old ways die.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book; it is written for Years 4-6.

At the start of the book, there is mention of the girl’s bitter old grandfather who sometimes hits her… but this is such a small part of the story.

It is quite a short story – about 16000-17000 words long and can be read in an hour or two.