Happy Birthday, Bear CBeebies Bedtime Stories

Hm. Take the parcel, shake the parcel,

wiggle it and spin it.

Hm.

Oh, hello. My name is Anna.

I'm trying to guess what's inside this parcel.

The animals in tonight's bedtime story know a great rhyme to say

before you open a parcel. Listen out for it when I tell you the story.

It's by Richard Edwards and Carol Liddiment and is called

Happy Birthday, Bear.

Bear woke up and yawned, scratched his head.

There's something special about today... Couldn't think what it was.

He suddenly remembered - it was his birthday!

"If it's my birthday, I better have a party," he said, jumping up.

"Hm, what will I need?

"Balloons...and friends... and presents."

Bears love presents.

Bear wrote invitations to his best friends -

the beaver, the wild boar and the heron.

"Please come to Bear's birthday party. 4 o'clock at the bear cave.

"Games and food.

"P.S. Bears love presents!"

Then he folded the invitations and hurried out to deliver them.

Later that afternoon, Bear waited impatiently for his guests...

and his presents to arrive.

"Happy birthday!" called his friends as they came up the path.

"We've got you presents." "Ooh, thank you!" said Bear.

"I wasn't expecting any."

"Open mine first!" cried the heron. "No, mine!" grunted the boar.

"No, mine!" squeaked the beaver.

"Here, take the parcel, shake the parcel,

"wiggle it and spin it.

"Rattle it and sniff at it and try to guess what's in it."

Bear shook the parcel. Made a scratchy sound.

He tore the wrapping paper. There was a box inside.

And in the box he found...

"Sticks?" said Bear.

He was disappointed.

"Sticks are good!" replied the beaver.

"I built my house out of sticks!"

"I think they're a silly present," said Bear. He put the parcel down.

"You'll like mine," said the wild boar.

"Take the parcel, shake the parcel, wiggle it and spin it.

"Rattle it and sniff at it and try to guess what's in it."

Bear wiggled the parcel.

It made a slurping sound.

He tore the wrapping paper. There was a box inside.

And in the box he found...

"Mud?!" said Bear. He was VERY disappointed.

"Mud's good!" replied the boar. "You can snuffle in mud."

"Mud's even sillier than sticks!" said Bear.

He dropped the parcel on the floor.

The last present was the heron's.

"Take the parcel, shake the parcel, wiggle it and spin it.

"Rattle it, sniff at it and try to guess what's in it."

Bear rattled the parcel. It made a clacking sound.

He tore the wrapping paper. There was a box inside.

In the box he found...

"Stones?!" said Bear.

Now he was REALLY disappointed.

"Stones are good!" said the heron.

"Stand on them when you fish - keep your feet dry!"

"Stones are sillier than mud!"

Bear threw the parcel into a corner.

"These are the worst presents I've ever had!" he said.

"I don't want a party. Go home!" Next morning, Bear decided

to get rid of his presents. He went in the forest

to get rid of the sticks. They rattled against tree trunks.

Rattly-tattly-tat.

Bear liked that noise. He rattled more trunks. And more.

He found a hollow log and began to drum on it, singing,

# Rattly-tatt, tum-tum Rattly-tatt, tum

# Bear loves thumping Thumping on a drum. #

He liked it so much, he decided to keep the drumsticks after all.

"The beaver was right!" he said when he got back home.

"Sticks ARE a good present. But mud isn't!"

He took the box outside and emptied it on the ground. Squelch!

Bear liked that noise.

He trod in the mud, squelched louder.

He jumped up and down, singing,

# Squelch, squelch, squelch, squelch Squelching on the ground

# Bear loves squelching Squelching all around. #

He liked squelching so much,

he decided to scoop the mud back into the box and keep it!

"The boar was right!" he said, "Mud isn't a silly present.

"But stones are." He took the stones the heron had given him

and went to sink them in the lake.

He threw the first stone high and watched it fall into the water.

Splosh! Bear liked that noise. He sploshed another stone.

And another, singing,

# Splish, splosh, splish, splosh Water splishing high

# Bear loves sploshing Making water fly. #

He liked sploshing so much, he kept some stones to play with later.

Sticks, mud, stones. They were wonderful presents.

Bear felt so bad about how he behaved at the party.

How could he show he was sorry?

Later that day, his friends were talking by the lake,

when Bear came up. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"Those presents were the best I've ever had!"

"The sticks?" asked the beaver.

"The mud?" asked the boar. "The stones?" asked the heron.

"I like them all!" said Bear.

"I've got you presents to make up for it. Come with me."

Back in the bear cave, there were three presents waiting. Bear smiled.

"Take the parcels, shake the parcels,

"wiggle them and spin them,

"rattle them, sniff at them and try to guess what's in them!"

His friends shook and wiggled and rattled their presents.

They tore the wrapping paper. There were boxes inside.

When they opened them they found...

"Honeycombs!" said the beaver. "Mmm!" said the others.

and at last, they had their party.

They nibbled and snuffled and pecked greedily

until all the honey had gone. Then Bear took his friends outside

to show them drumming - rattly-tatt-tum-tum -

squelching - squelch, squelch, squelch, squelch -

and sploshing - splish, splosh, splish, splosh,

splish, splosh, splish.

That story was called Happy Birthday, Bear.

Hm. What do you think is in this parcel?

Stones? Sticks? Hmm...

I hope it's not mud.

Well, while I find out, it's time for you to go to bed.

I'll see you soon for another story. Night-night.

So...how did the rhyme go again?

Shake it and wig... No, that's not right.

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