A Fall Day for Bear

by Bonny Becker, Kady MacDonald Denton (Illustrator)

Overview

Can gruff and grumpy Bear cheer up his usually upbeat friend Mouse? With signature with and whimsy, this delightfully mismatched duo is back in a much-anticipated seventh story!

One fall day Bear is getting ready to have a picnic with Mouse. But when it’s time to leave together, there is no tap, tap, tapping on Bear’s front door. Where is Mouse, small and gray and bright-eyed? Bear sets out to meet him on the path, only to find his friend sitting alone on a stump, looking sad, lamenting the changes of the season—leaves falling, flowers dying, birds migrating. “I don’t like it when things go away,” Mouse says quietly. How can the curmudgeonly Bear cheer up his usually cheery friend? With characteristic warmth, this perfectly paced story of friendship, difficult feelings, and a well-meaning role reversal meets the healing power of laughter in the masterful hands of Bonny Becker and Kady MacDonald Denton.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536248562
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/09/2025
Series:	Bear and Mouse Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Bonny Becker is the author of several books about Bear and Mouse, including the New York Times bestseller A Visitor for Bear. She is also the author of several award-winning picture books and middle-grade novels. Bonny Becker lives in Seattle.

Kady MacDonald Denton is the illustrator of many books for children, including the Bear and Mouse books by Bonny Becker, the Billy and Rose books by Amy Hest, and Two Homes by Claire Masurel. Kady MacDonald Denton lives in Ontario.

My dad was a respected small-town doctor who dreamed of dancing like Fred Astaire and drove a motorcycle to his rounds in the dead of winter bundled in a huge parka. My mom urged us up narrow mountain roads and out to empty deserts in search of rare birds, and happily managed to read just about every book in the library while six kids, their friends, various dogs, cats, hamsters, ducks, chickens, even a giant pet rat tumbled through life about her.

As my mother did, I like a bit of chaos and lots of time to think and dream in my life. One of my earliest dreams—to be a writer—came true. But before I published my first book, I went to college—twice. I have a degree in psychology and a degree in English/creative writing. I’ve worked picking fruit, made ski goggles, and was a waitress, a store clerk, a substitute teacher, a hotel maid, a typist, a photographer, a journalist, an editor, and a corporate communications manager. Along the way, I met a wonderful man in the vitamin aisle of a grocery store, got married, and had two wonderful children.


For my first Candlewick book, A Visitor for Bear, the character Mouse just popped into my head. It turns out that just popping up is a bad habit of his, much to the annoyance of grouchy, reclusive Bear.

But a little bit of me is in every book I write, and I think Mouse comes in part from every happy pet I’ve owned along with a touch of my father’s wit and charm. I love to say that Bear is based on my husband (who is very pleased with this idea), but I suspect Bear comes from a lot of sources, including the Donald Duck cartoons I watched as a kid. Poor smugly content Donald was always driven into a rage by life’s inevitable indignities.

There are now more Mouse and Bear books on the bookshelves, including A Birthday for Bear and A Bedtime for Bear.

Three Things You Might Not Know About Me:

1. I had to get glasses when I was one and a half years old. I was so little I could barely walk. And I hated them and tried to get rid of them. I would hang them on bushes, ran over them with my tricycle, and even flushed them down the toilet. I still have to wear them, but now I’m glad I can see!

2. My first pet was a dachshund (a wiener dog). I was in charge of training him and went to special classes to learn about dog obedience. You should always have your dog walk to your left and don’t ever let him cross to your right without your permission. That way you won’t end up tripping on his leash.

3. I almost fell out of a roller coaster when I was little and my brother had to grab me to hold me in the car.

Editorial Reviews

Greatly entertaining art. . . .A cozy tale of pals weathering more than the weather.
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2025-07-04
Bear tries to jump-start Mouse’s happiness amid seasonal changes.

Bear awaits the usual “tap tap tapping” on his door, signaling a visit from “small and gray and bright-eyed” Mouse. Today the two of them will be going on a picnic. When Mouse runs late, Bear decides, “I will wait five minutes and then….” Becker’s sly text continues: “Bear didn’t really know what would happen then, but he liked the grumbly sound of it.” Worried, Bear sets out to meet Mouse. A fall wind blows away a pickle from Bear’s picnic basket: Has Mouse met a similar fate? Bear soon finds Mouse slumped on a tree stump, sad because so many things—the birds, the flowers—are leaving now that autumn is here. Bear tries to rally his friend with picnic food, even halving the remaining pickle, to no avail. If readers haven’t already been giggling at Mouse’s melodramatic poses, they will laugh aloud when Bear pretends to be the Autumn Fairy and begins to dance. As rain falls, Bear starts to share Mouse’s melancholy, vowing to head home and be sad by the fire. Denton’s greatly entertaining art shows Bear enduring a spectacular tumble into the mud. Mouse tries to stifle a laugh, and Bear bellows, “IT’S NOT FUNNY” as the friends navigate the trickiness of schadenfreude. The latest in this series is expectedly warm (and dry).

A cozy tale of pals weathering more than the weather.(Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews