Read-aloud Story for Grades 2-6: Bear Becomes Bearable

Introduction: Poor Ben Bear! He is going through a phase where he does not see his own value. He doesn’t like himself and wants to be like anybody but himself. He tries unsuccessfully to imitate his good friends Eagle, Wolf, and Coyote. Read what happens next.

This story was written back in 2006 by the new-deceased Terry Gardner. He was a clinical social worker all the way up to the time of his death. He also was a published author. This Four Directions story, as he called them, is shared in his memory and with permission of his widow, Lin Gardner.

Bear becomes Bearable

The sun cast bright light and heat on Ben Bear as he sat on his favorite stump. Bear picked at the stump and found a few ants. He popped them into his mouth. He said, “Whew! This is one VERY hot day. I wish I could be like my friends, Carl Coyote and Wendy Wolf. They shed their fur and are much cooler during hot weather.”

Bear’s face scrunched up even more as he commented about Ellen Eagle, “Eagle just floats up high where it is always cool. She can fan herself with her huge wings.”

Bear questioned, “Why was I born this way? I can’t run fast or very far. I can’t fly. I have this blubber body that I have to get fat for the winters. I sleep four months of the year. I eat berries and most everything no one else would touch.”

Bear kept talking to himself and was getting more and more depressed. Bear finally said to him, “I know what I will do. I’ll be Eagle, Wolf, and Coyote. Then, I won’t have to be myself. Now, how can I be Eagle, Wolf, and Coyote?”

Bear slumped even deeper into the stump as he thought harder and harder. His face brightened with new energy as he shouted, “I can fly. I can run. I can howl.”

Eagle, Coyote, and Wolf were playing nearby when they heard Bear’s shouting. Eagle said, “Bear is making some really weird statements. I think we’d better check him out.”

Coyote and Wolf nodded, so the three friends left their play and went to search for Bear.

Bear, meanwhile, climbed and crawled ten feet up into a tree. He very carefully and fearfully crawled out on a branch that trembled more and more, the further he crawled. Bear managed to stand up. Then he launched himself into the air.

Bear flapped his front paws as fast as he could, but nothing could stop his SPLAT on the ground. Bear smacked into the ground. All you could hear was ‘whoosh’ as the air rushed from Bear.

Bear raised his head and shook it. He raised one paw and looked at it. He then felt his other paws and shook them. He pushed himself up and sat down. He carefully looked at every inch of his body and decided he was not hurt.

Bear exclaimed, “THAT HURT!!! I now know I can’t be like Eagle and fly. I just don’t have a slim body with beautiful wings like Eagle. What should I try next?”

Eagle, Wolf, and Coyote reached Bear just as he launched himself into the air. Coyote told his friends, “Let’s see what Bear is doing. He is acting really strange today.”

Wolf and Eagle nodded their heads. The three stayed in the underbrush waiting for Bear to make his next move.

Bear scratched his great head and wondered, “Should I try Coyote or Wolf? Ah, I’ll try Coyote. I couldn’t fly fast but maybe I can run fast. Hmm. I couldn’t fly at all, by the way. Anyway, I’ll try running now.”

Bear hunched down in a sprinter’s crouch and yelled to himself, “Ready, Set, GO!!”

Bear pumped his upper paws hard and dug in with his rear legs. He forgot one thing. He had claws in his feet. He took three huge steps and fell flat on his face! Bear fell so hard he skidded five feet in the hard dirt and left a trench six inches deep.

Bear again pulled himself up and carefully examined all of his limbs. He said, “I can’t be Coyote either.”

Eagle looked at Wolf and Coyote. Coyote began to smile, snicker and break into a belly-shaking laugh. He clamped his front paws quickly over his muzzle so Bear would not hear him. Wolf was rolling on the ground because she was laughing so hard.

Only Eagle remained calm. She spoke sharply to Coyote and Wolf, “Get hold of yourselves! We need to help Bear and not laugh at him.”

Coyote and Wolf swallowed their guffaws and nodded to Eagle.

Bear wiped the dirt off himself and said, “Eagle and Coyote didn’t work for me. I’ll try to be Wolf. I just can’t be Bear. I hate Bear! I hate myself! I’ll howl like Wolf.”

Coyote, Wolf, and Eagle listened and watched Bear very carefully. They saw him sit down on the ground and put his front paws firmly on the ground. Bear carefully braced himself. He took a huge lungful of air and threw back his head.

Coyote whispered, “What is Bear trying to do?”

Wolf answered, “I think Bear is trying to be me. He already tried to fly like Eagle and run like you.”

Eagle spoke sharply, “Will you two please watch Bear? We need to help him. We can’t do that until we know what is bothering him.”

Eagle, Wolf, and Coyote watched Bear’s lungs and stomach heave with a HUGE push. Then they heard a tremendous RRROOOAAARRR!!!!

Bear dropped his head and began to cry really hard. His friends heard him say, “I can’t even be like Wolf. What am I? Who am I?”

Eagle whispered to Wolf and Coyote, “Bear just answered our questions about his actions. He doesn’t want to be himself. We need to talk together about what we can do to help him.”

Wolf and Coyote nodded their heads and joined Eagle some distance away from Bear so they could talk without Bear hearing them.

Bear, meanwhile, let himself get more and more upset. He threw himself to the ground and moaned, “I’m NO GOOD to ANYONE. Who really cares for me and wants me around???”

Eagle got to the point very quickly, “We need to help Bear and help him quickly. Do either of you have any ideas?”

Coyote’s face scrunched up and then relaxed as he said, “Let’s get Bear’s attention and try to be some part of him. If we can get him laughing, he won’t be sad any more.”

Eagle and Wolf said at the same time, “I like that. How can we get him laughing?”

Coyote grinned and said, “Each of us can pretend to be some part of Bear. We also can get in contact with another Bear who needs some help from Ben Bear.”

Eagle quietly screeched her agreement and Wolf let out a small howl of agreement.

The three friends knew each other so well that they moved into immediate action. They almost magically appeared within ten feet of Bear. Bear continued to moan and groan about how he was worth nothing.

Coyote called loudly, “Hey, Bear, look over here.”

Bear raised his head as tears ran down his face. He looked in the direction of his three friends and saw THE SIGHT of his life.

He saw Eagle trying to use her wings and talons to walk like him. She swung her head from side to side as she tried to imitate him.

Wolf presented a very different picture. He was digging into a small tree and attempting to climb it like Bear. He kept falling off the tree after only two steps.

Coyote was the funniest of all. He had found a bee’s nest up in a tree and attempted to take some honey from it. The bees didn’t like Coyote and began to chase him. They chased him around and around the tree.

Bear began to smile despite his tears. He smiled more and more until he broke out into a belly-splitting laugh. He said, “I’d better go help Coyote. Bee stings are not fun.”

Bear rushed over to Coyote and called to the bees, “Please stop chasing Coyote. He meant no harm to you.”

Queen Bee answered, “We will chase him around the tree three more times. He bothered us and needs to learn a lesson.”

The bees finally stopped chasing Coyote and he stumbled to Wolf, Eagle and Bear.

Bear looked at his three friends and said, “You three looked SO SILLY. Why were you trying to copy me?”

Eagle answered, “We wished to help you. You tried to be us. You can’t do that. You are Bear and NOT Wolf, Eagle, or Coyote. We love you just the way you are.”

Bear shook his head and continued, “That’s hard for me. I don’t love myself very much.”

Wolf answered Bear, “We know that Bear. We want you to…”

Wolf never finished his words because the four friends heard a loud BANG, BANG.

The four rushed in the direction of the sound. Eagle reached the scene first. She saw a beautiful Lady Bear hugging the limb of a tree as two hunters far below took turns shooting at her.

Eagle screeched her findings, warnings, and instructions. Bear, Wolf, and Coyote rushed into their respective roles.

Eagle rose with lightning speed, and without warning, pulled her wings tightly into her hunting dive toward the two men. She pulled out of her dive within two feet of the head of one man. Her talons struck and pulled off the toupee of one man.

Wolf let out one piercing howl and Coyote yipped loudly three times as they hurled themselves toward the two men. The two hunters turned to see a HUGE WHITE WOLF and the smaller gray COYOTE airborne. The fangs of both were bared, their claws extended toward the two men.

The two hunters turned in terror and then they saw … BEN BEAR!

Bear rose to his full twelve feet and let out a tree-uprooting roar as he charged the two hunters from the opposite direction from Wolf and Coyote. The two men trembled and then heard the howls of wolves and excited yippings of coyotes as a pack of wolves and a pack of coyotes pounded into view.

The two men screamed in terror and fell to the ground. They began to crawl away as fast as possible. Eagle screeched, “Let them go!!”

Bear let out a final roar and swiped the hat off the other hunter. Coyote and Wolf each took a good chunk of pants material from each man. The two hunters stood up and ran off, and all the animals began rolling on the ground in laughter.

Bear directed a gentle roar toward the trembling Lady Bear in the tree. He walked proudly toward her and helped her to the ground.

She put her arms around him and gave him a huge bear hug. She said, “You saved my life. I’d like to be your special friend.”

Bear grinned and said, “I accept. I’m VERY glad I’m Bear!”

Eagle, Wolf, and Coyote led a huge cheer for Bear, “Yeah for you! You are you! You are you! There’s NO ONE else for you to be but YOU – wonderful YOU!”

Click “Story Comprehension Questions: Bear becomes Bearable” to get a copy of the twenty-seven questions for your class to discuss or write about or both.

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OTHER STORIES BY TERRY GARDNER

Four Coyote tales:

1. Coyote meets his master

A. Read-aloud story