December 23, 2025 By Maria
As Christmas gets closer there is a communal sense of waiting and preparation in the air. Of course there is pre-Christmas craziness -last minute shopping, baking, and obsessive checking of shipping status for online orders (that was me last year). Besides the pre-Christmas stress, I love the preparation and waiting in Advent. Of course the author, Olivier Dunrea, has the perfect book for this season of waiting. His book shows the joyful anticipation I hope we all feel.
In my very first blog post I wrote about a book by Olivier Dunrea (the author of the Gossie books). It was called It’s Snowing. I love the way that book captured the magic of a snowy evening. Dunrea wrote another book about another magical snowy evening. This book is called Bear Noel and it shares a beautiful and earthy Christmas magic. I cannot say enough times how much I loved Dunrea’s depiction of snow falling in the forest. It is just as beautiful as the snow in It’s Snowing.
There is something ethereal and beautiful about talking animals in the forest on Christmas Eve. There is a long tradition of stories about animals on Christmas gaining the ability to speak or getting along in complete harmony. Dunrea leans into these traditions in Bear Noel.
Once the first animal hears the jiggling of bells from Bear Noel, the animals’ ursine Santa like figure, it starts their excited anticipation. Bear Noel makes his way through the nighttime forest, jiggling his bells and preparing a delicious surprise for the creatures. All animals alike gather together to follow Bear Noel and spread his good tidings. The word is carried from a hare to a wolf all the way to a tiny mole. The animal band adds each new creature they meet to their celebratory group. Their dialogue has a repetitive quality to it that little kids love.
As Christmas gets ever closer, we join Hare in whispering, “He is coming.” Who? – some may wonder. For those partaking in this season of hope and preparation we are not waiting for Bear Noel but the Noel who will come to us at Christmas to be sheltered in our very hearts. He is coming, rejoice!
More Bookshelves Please 