TEDDY BEAR TALES!
Forty-five Fantastic Minutes of Stories, Magic and Fun, Plus additional Stories, Songs and Games – Guaranteed Fun and Laughter For All The Family! Ideal for TEDDY BEAR PICNICS - BOOK FESTIVALS –TOY FAIRS & EXHIBITIONS plus all TEDDY BEAR RELATED EVENTS! For details of availabilities etc.
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I first placed this page on to the website intending merely to promote my specially themed storytelling presentation. I was therefore surprised at the amount of traffic that the page attracted, clearly demonstrating the world-wide interest that exists in the subject of Teddy Bears.So for the benefit of these additional visitors, I have added the following material. I shall continue to add items whenever I find something that I think you will enjoy. Thank you all for your interest and support! And if YOU are an organiser of a TEDDY BEAR related event, DO READ the above publicity again and CONTACT ME! By
Clicking here I recently received an email from David Palmer. He is looking for a teddy bear tale. David's email is self-explanatory and if anyone 'out there' knows the story, please contact me so that I can pass it on to David and perhaps include it among the other tales on this page. Here is David's request: "I wonder if you could help me source a story about a teddy bear that I heard on Radio 4 a few years ago. Basically it followed the life of a teddy bear at the beginning of the 1900's. It went with its owner to the front lines in the First World War and the story follows its life up to the modern day. I'm sorry the information is so vague but I can't remember the full details. I do remember however that it was quite a moving tale. Many thanks". Both David and I will keep our fingers crossed! TEDDY BEAR JOKES Here are a few jokes that might amuse you. What do Winnie the Pooh and Rupert the Bear have in common? What’s white, furry and tastes of peppermint? Why do bears have fur coats? How do you start a teddy bear race? A teddy bear who worked on a building site arrived for work one morning to discover that his pick was missing. He went to see the foreman, who told him, “It’s because today’s the day the teddy bears have their picks nicked!” If YOU know any others and would like to share them, e-mail me and I’ll credit the source. Searching for a Teddy Bear tale! I recently received the following email. Rosemary is trying to locate a Teddy Bear story. I don't know it but if anyone of YOU out there knows of it, please contact me and I'll pass the information on. Here is Rosemary's query: I wonder if you can help? I am trying to find the story called 'Teddy Bear waiting for four o'clock tea.' Do you know it and the author?I do hope you can help.Many thanks, Rosemary. .................... Further to the preceding item, which has been on this page for quite a considerable time...I have GOOD NEWS! Lea Ann Kaplan has located the illusive tale. It appears to be the lyric of a song! Thank you Lea Ann for taking the trouble to post this lovely story, your kindness is very much appreciated. So here it is Rosemary, if you are still searching. It is called: NEARLY FOUR A teddy bear sits on a mattress Four o'clock is teddy's teatime Shadows grow on distant hillsides The mattress, striped, is old and broken A telephone that no one answers For ages now he's lain unwanted Don't tell him that the clock is broken I am sure it will bring a little lump in the throat to many of you - It did me! It was written by Jeremy Lloyd and can be found with a lot of other fascinating lyrics about animals and insects etc. on the website of Captain Beaky and His Band
'LOST and FOUND' department! Here is yet another request for a 'Lost' Teddy Bear tale! Michelle writes: I am looking for a story called "The Purple Bear". I don't know the author, but the story is slightly poetic in form & begins with "I was a play horse you pull with a string on wheels where legs should be." - If you can find it I would like to know. Thanks, Michelle If anyone out there knows this story, please email me and I will pass it on to Michelle. (It happened for Rosemary - let's hope we can do it again!)
No Teddy Bears feature would be complete without reference to this ever popular song. THE TEDDY BEAR’S PICNIC. The music was originally composed by J.W. Bratton and published by Albert A. Williams in 1907 under the title, “The Teddy Bear March and Two-Step”. In 1930, American lyricist, Jimmy Kennedy added words and since then the song has become known worldwide as “The Teddy Bear’s Picnic”. Here are the lyrics to this popular song:
you’re sure of a big surprise. If you go down in the woods today you’d better go in disguise! For every bear that ever there was Every teddy bear who’s been good Beneath the trees where nobody sees Picnic time for teddy bears. If you go down in the woods today, For every bear that ever there was Before leaving this particular topic, I remember a sequence dance many years ago (1938/39!) set to this music. It was at Butlins Holiday Camp in Clacton. They called it "The Butlin Ballet" (Surprise,surprise!) and was performed by sets of three dancers - Gentleman in the middle, flanked by two ladies. I have myself subsequently presented this dance during my days as a Butlin Redcoat and Pontin Bluecoat, etc.. Does anyone else remember the dance? It occurs to me that it may be the original "Teddy Bear March and Two-step" referred to above! Any thoughts?
This is a story that I wrote for my grandaughter Natalie, when she was quite small
Natalie had a teddy bear called ‘Fred’. Her Nana bought it for her at an antiques fair. It was quite old and had been cuddled and hugged such a lot that much of its fur had been worn away. That was why Natalie’s Nana suggested they should call it ‘Fred Bear’! Natalie took him everywhere and loved him dearly. Fred came with a suitcase, inside which was a jacket, trousers and hat, all of which fitted him perfectly. When he was dressed, he looked very smart indeed. Natalie’s Nana decided that he should have more clothes and started to make them herself. After a time, he had a school uniform (matching the one that Natalie wore for school!), he had a pair of bright red pyjamas, a woolly sweater, hat and gloves for the winter and shorts, tee shirt and a very ‘cool’ pair of shades for when the sun shone brightly! He also had a waterproof raincoat and sou’wester hat for when it rained! He really was a very well dressed bear! When the school holidays came around, it was suggested that they should all go to Blackpool for a day. So Natalie and Fred, her Mum, her older sister Stephanie and Nana set off nice and early. They arrived in Blackpool at about ten o’clock in the morning. The first place they visited was the Pleasure Beach, an enormous fun fair with huge roller-coaster rides, roundabouts and mysterious rides that seemed to go underground and into fairy grottoes! It was a wonderful place! Natalie and her family went on a new ride called, ‘Valhalla!’ It was a boat ride that took them along an artificial river and then climbed up a mountain and through a waterfall! After the Pleasure Beach, they caught a tram-car and went along the promenade until they reached the Central Pier. There was a big Ferris Wheel on the pier and Stephanie wanted to go on that! Then they all went to the famous Blackpool Tower. This is a large building surrounding the tallest structure in Britain! Inside the building there is a circus, a beautiful ballroom, lots of bars and tea-rooms and Jungle Jim’s! A great play area for children. They didn’t have time to take the lift to the top of the tower but promised themselves that they would when they next came to Blackpool. After the visit to the tower, they all decided to get on a bus which took them to Stanley Park. This was situated about three miles inland from the sea. Stanley Park is a beautiful park with a boating lake. Natalie wanted to go on the boats so Mum and Nana sat at the side and watched as both Stephanie and Natalie climbed into their motor boat and set off around the lake. When they returned, everyone had an ice-cream and then noticed that the time had come to get the bus home. They all agreed that it had been a wonderful day. They had just arrived at the bus station when Natalie let out a great cry, “Fred! Where is he? I can’t find him!” “Are you sure that you brought him?” asked Natalie’s Mum. “Yes, of course!”. Said Natalie, “I always take him wherever I go. Have you got him?” She looked accusingly at her sister. “No I haven’t” answered Stephanie, “But I did see him on your knee when we were coming on the bus”. “Well we will just have to re-trace our steps”, said Nana. If we go back to all of the places that we visited, we will probably find him”. “But that will make us terribly late getting home”, said Natalie’s Mum. “That doesn’t matter”, went on Nana, “We must try to find Fred before we go home or we never will!” So they took a taxi and returned to all of the places that they had visited. They went to the last place first, Stanley Park. They called at the ice-cream stall and then the boat rides. The lady at the stall remembered them all but said she hadn’t seen Fred. The man in charge of the boats was very kind, he was just tying them all up for the day and looked in every one, but there was no sign of the teddy bear.Natalie was getting very upset. Next on the list was the tower. The Commissionaire at the door was very sympathetic, “I’ll ask around the building”, he said. He went into the circus, then to Jungle Jim’s. He asked the cleaning staff in the ballroom, then he looked in the tea-room where they had refreshments. All of the staff members were very helpful, but no one had seen Fred. Then they returned to the Central Pier and asked at the Ferris Wheel, but no one there had seen the missing teddy bear either. They went back to the Pleasure Beach and visited all of the rides. The story was the same, everyone was helpful and really looked everywhere but Fred was nowhere to be found. It was a very sad and tearful Natalie that eventually had to admit that he was probably lost forever and that they might as well go home. They went back to the bus station. It was by now quite late and the bus that they would be catching was the last one back home. They sat in the waiting room, thinking about the sad ending to what had been a lovely day. Eventually the bus arrived and as they climbed aboard, the bus driver said, “Hello, you all came in on my bus this morning. I was hoping you would be coming back with me” He looked at Natalie. “I think you will have some explaining to do young lady – look who you left behind!” He reached over his driving wheel and lifted a small furry teddy bear from the top of his dash board. It was Fred! Natalie screamed with delight as she reached for her teddy bear. “Oh Fred” she said, “I am sorry. I was so excited about getting to Blackpool that I must have forgotten to pick you up when we got off the bus!” “I found him under the seat” said the bus driver. “He’s been back and forward with me three times! He will be able to drive the bus to Blackpool himself by now, I shouldn’t wonder!” Everybody laughed at the bus driver's joke and Natalie thanked him for looking after Fred all day. Then feeling very tired, she slept with Fred cuddled tightly in her arms all the way home. Copyright Leslie Melville 2003. N.B. In my 'telling' of this story, I make it inter-active. I invite the children in my audience to nominate the various locations that are visited by the family on their day out in Blackpool. Then, when they re-trace the locations in their search for 'Fred', the children are asked to remember - in reverse order - where the family have to go to find him. It doesn't have to be Blackpool of course! Any popular tourist location with which the children in the audience are familiar would be just as suitable.
Below are the lyrics to a song that was published in 1919! An American magical colleague sent them to me. He writes fascinating stories and routines for magicians. His name is Ed Solomon. He didn’t send the music but I think it works quite well as a comical poem for children. He saw this page and thought the item would fit very well alongside the material already here. He is quite right of course. Thanks, Ed. So here it is, I hope you all enjoy it.
I chanced upon a big brown bear That big brown bear just hugged his lair, I doubted his sublime intent, ”WOOF!”To hear and see lots of this material - plus much, much more - performed 'LIVE!' - contact me for availabilities by using the box below: I have found a dedicated
Teddy Bear
website that I think you might enjoy. I did! |