In the year 2000, when this book was first published, I wanted to create a book which could be given to a child who was starting school at the age of 5 years and which could be read by them progressively until the age of 13 years when they either moved up to ‘Middle or High School.’ I also wanted to mark their memory of the New Millennium with their own special book.
Because the reading age between all children of between 5 years of age and 11 is so vast, this project naturally involved the writing of a number of stories that catered for children of different chronological ages and reading abilities.
The outcome of this idea was the publication of the book ‘Bes’; which contains four interdependent stories that links in theme. The four stories would concern four types of creatures, a bear (for 5-7 year old readers), an elephant (for 7-9 year old readers), a sheep (for 9-11 year old readers), and a New Millennium spiritual creature called ‘Bes’, who was part bear, part elephant and part sheep in both appearance and disposition( for 9-13 year old reader).
The Bear with a Sore Head,’ is a story to be ‘read to’ and ‘read with’ the 5-7 year old child. Its overall aim is to remind the young reader that ‘how’ one gets out of bed each morning will depend ‘how good or bad a day’ one experiences. It is also hoped that the child will see the benefits that can be derived from being ‘positive’ in attitude at the start of the day.
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