Smorgasbord Book Reviews – #Children’s – Barty Barton: The Bear That Was Loved Too Much by Sue Wickstead

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Today another children’s book review.. teddy bears are very special toys and loved by many children… sometimes into adulthood. Barty Barton: The Bear That Was Loved Too Much by Sue Wickstead.

About the book

‘What happens when you outgrow your teddy bear? Will you let it go?Barty was a special teddy bear. He was soft, cuddly and always made you smile.All the loving cuddles had flattened him over time, his nose bent to one side and his paws needed repairing.But he was too full of memories to be thrown away. Thomas had loved Barty but now he was grown up and going to be a daddy himself. Would he want Barty for his new baby?

My review for the book February 5th 2022

A lovely story about how even when old and worn out there is still love to be given and received. Very hopeful for those of us of a certain age, who like Barty Barton the bear, are showing signs of wear and tear.

Barty and his fellow stuffed toys have been rather neglected after their young owner grows up and leaves home to start a family of his own.

Luckily his mother comes to the rescue and Barty and his collection of friends go through several rejuvenating processes. They are a delight to read about, offering useful suggestions to those who have favourite worn toys that might enjoy being pampered, and passed along to younger members of the family.

As with all children’s books that I read, I like to see the underlying messages of kindness, love and hope being embedded in the story for a young reader to absorb.

The illustrations are perfect and any child reading, or having the story read to them, will be tempted to stop and discuss in more detail.

Highly recommended.

A selection of other books by Sue Wickstead

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US – More reviews: Goodreads – Website/Blog: Sue Wickstead – Facebook: Stories Sue – Facebook: Teacher Page – Twitter: @JayJayBus – LinkedIn: Sue Wickstead 

About Sue Wickstead

Award winning books. Shortlisted in the Wishing Shelf Book awards.

Sue Wickstead is a teacher and an author and has written children’s picture books with a bus theme. In addition, she has also written a photographic history book about the real bus behind her story writing.

Her bus stories are about a playbus. Have you ever been on a Playbus?

When Sue’s two children were young, they attended a playgroup on a bus, but not an ordinary bus taking you on a journey, exciting though this is, but a Playbus stuffed full of toys to capture their imagination!

For over 20 years, alongside her teaching career, she worked with the charity, the Bewbush Playbus Association.

As part of the committee she painted the bus, worked in the groups, helped raise the profile of the project and its work and was part of the team involved in raising funds to replace the old bus with a newer vehicle. This led her to write a photographic history book about it.

‘It really was a fun journey to be involved in’, said Sue. The bus really got into her blood and became a work of the heart.

Having written the history book Sue soon found that many children had never been on a bus before, let alone a ‘Playbus’ and they wanted to know more. So, she decided to write a fictional tale, his number plate JJK261, gave him his name.

‘Jay-Jay the Supersonic Bus,’ came out in print in 2014. It is the story behind the original project and is his journey from a scrap-yard to being changed into a playbus for children to play in. From Fact to fiction the bus journey continues.

This story has now been followed by more picture books.‘A Spooky Tale’ and ‘The Christmas Play Rehearsal’ do indeed have a bus connection as well as links to her teaching journey.

Sue has undertaken events and author bookings and loves to share her stories, she is also proud to be ‘a patron of reading’.

The books have all received 5-star awards from ‘Readers Favourite’. Sue’s books have also been short-listed in ‘The wishing Shelf’ book awards. With ‘A Spooky Tale’ a silver medal winner.

 

Thanks for dropping in today and I hope you will be leaving with some books… thanks Sally.
 

35 thoughts on “Smorgasbord Book Reviews – #Children’s – Barty Barton: The Bear That Was Loved Too Much by Sue Wickstead”

  1. Pingback: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Weekly Round Up – 31st Jan – Feb 6th 2022 – Hits 1987, Travel Column, Nutrition, Short stories, book reviews, blogging and funnies | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

  3. Congratulations to Sue on her wonderful book and for the excellent review. The first thing I thought of when I saw what the book was about was something I used to do in my classroom. Each week, I picked a “Student of the Week.”. It was always someone different until I had run through every child in the class. One day I’d send my suitcase home with the student, and the child would return the next day carrying the important things from their life. (3rd grade) Many children would often bring a favorite stuffed animal. The child would tell why each item held special meaning. It was a glorified sharing activity but a safe yet tricky way to build confidence for even my shyest students.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Yes, that sounds a great ide.
      I’ve seen a few schools who send the class bear home with each child over the weekend. The bear comes back with photos and stories about their weekend stay with the child chosen.
      It is a good idea but can put pressure to get photos and exciting news written.
      I think the case of important memories is a nice idea.

      Liked by 2 people

  8. HI Sally, this story sounds delightful. My mom took my teddy, which was previously hers, and gave it away! I was so upset about it because she didn’t ask me. He was old with no nose and patchy fur but I was planning to take him to the teddy bear hospital.

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  13. Thank you for this lovley review. I’m glad you enjoyed the story.
    Indeed our childhood toys hold some precious memories and our tatty toys definatley show they have been well loved.
    My teddy, MacMac is full of straw, her paws need repairing, her tummy grumble doesn’t work anymore and her nose has been kiissed so much that it is worn too.
    P.S. she is a girl teddy because her fur fell out and the only thing that fitted was a blue dolls dress.
    Yes, she is full of memories too.
    Unfortunatley her eye falls out so until it can be repaired she has to sit and watch. But she is loved too.
    Do you have a favourite toy?

    Liked by 1 person

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