11 Bossy Bear

Bossy Bear written by Pam Holden illustrated by Kelvin Hawley

Bossy Bear wanted to go to sleep for the winter, but he could hear all the noises the other animals made as they played outside his cave. "How can I ever get to sleep? I don't want to hear any more noise," he grumbled. "I must get rid of all these noisy animals." He thought of an easy way to catch the animals that annoyed him. His idea was to build a trap that they would not see until they had fallen in. That night, Bear dug a hole and hid his trap by covering it with leaves. "Hat ha," he chuckled to himself, "That won't be noticed until it is too late!"

Early the next morning, Goat came trotting along, trip trap, and fell through the leaves into Bear's hidden trap. "Help, help!" he bleated as loudly as he could. When Bossy Bear heard the bleating, he hurried to see what he had caught. "You make a loud bleating noise, Goat," grizzled Bear. "I want to go to sleep for the winter, so I'll take you far away where I can't hear your noisy bleating."

"I'm sorry I kept you awake," said Goat. "You can take me far away, but whatever you do, please don't leave me up on the mountain." "That's just where I will take you," growled Bear. "I'll be able to have a nice, quiet sleep when you have been left up on the mountain." He took Goat high up on the mountain, which was just the right place for a goat to be.

Later that morning, poor Monkey fell through the leaves into Bear's trap. "Help, save me!" he chattered, as Bossy Bear hurried to see what he had caught. "You are only a small, chattering monkey," he growled, "but you make a loud noise. I'm trying to go to sleep for the winter. I'm going to take you somewhere so far away that I can't hear your chattering."

"I'm sorry," said Monkey. "Wherever you take me, please don't put me into the deep, dark forest." "That's exactly the place to put you," growled Bear. "I will be able to have a long, quiet sleep when you are in the forest." He took Monkey to the forest, where he went swinging away through the trees.