The Bear, the Piano, the Dog and the Fiddle, by David Litchfield, is our book of the week this week. We want every illustration for our walls, they add such detail and depth to this beautifully moving tale of friendship, they’re amazing!
We look for stories that show male characters experiencing the full realm of human emotion and this story really does that.
Hector is sad when he can’t play the violin anymore, so he watches lots of TV and sleeps loads. Then when he see everyone enjoying Hugo’s violin playing, his tummy hurt a bit. Even if children don’t have the words for their emotions, they can often understand when they’re described like this.
This book shows a normal friendship. When things start to change, everyone has to adapt and it can be painful. Hector tried so hard to be pleased for his friend but he couldn’t keep it up.
My 5 year old was captivated by the pain and heartache in the story and extremely relieved by the resolution. It’s one that I’m sure he’s going to keep coming back to.