KPE Episode 84 - "Stay Awake, Bear" by Gavin Bishop

Hawea from Room 17 read this book and Sam acts as his DJ for this podcast. This delighful story was beautifully illustrated by the author.
This is a delightful story about Old Bear who doesn't want to go to sleep for the winter so he and his neighbour stay awake together. When it comes to their summer holday, however, guess what they both do!
During this podcast you will hear Hawea ask the author to respond to a question they have if he is listening to this podcast. We are pleased to share with you the answer from the email Gavin Bishop sent Hawea in reply. How cool is that!!

"It is interesting that you asked me why I wrote a book about bears when I am a kiwi and we don't have bears in New Zealand. Well, the answer is simple. My wife and I lived in Boston, near New York for a few months about 10 years ago. It was winter time and it snowed every two weeks. There was so much snow that they had to bring big trucks into the city to collect some of the snow and dump it into the sea. The rest of it was scooped up into big piles
that sat on the corners of each city block where it slowly melted until it snowed again. And the whole business of getting rid of the snow started once more. I had never seen so much snow and for the first time I realised how difficult it must be for big animals like bears to get through the winter. With everything covered in snow, there would be nothing to eat so the logical thing to do would be to hibernate. That's where I got the idea to write my story, STAY AWAKE, BEAR.

I am glad you enjoyed reading it. I wonder though, if you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed listening to your korero about my book?"

Thanks VERY much Gavin Bishop for listening to us and sending us an email.

Pt England School Podcasters