Jonas Armstrong - Mr Bear to the Rescue CBeebies Bedtime Stories

Ooh, that's better. A nice cosy cup of tea.

Oh, hello!

My name's Jonas. I'm trying to get nice and cosy for tonight's story.

So I thought a warm mug of tea would help.

Are you nice and cosy and ready for bed?

It's a bit cold in tonight's bedtime story,

so I'm glad we're wrapped up, indoors.

This story is by Debi Gliori and it's called, Mr Bear To The Rescue

It was a wild and windy night in the forest.

A night where the best place to be was indoors,

snug and warm, with windows and doors shut to keep the weather out.

Mr Bear was tucked up in bed, listening to the wind howling.

"Did you hear that?" said Mrs Bear.

"It sounded like someone calling, "Help!""

"It's just the wind, dear," said Mr Bear.

"Help!" said a small voice.

"There!" said Mrs Bear.

"I did hear something. Go and see who it is, dear."

Mr Bear went downstairs and opened the front door.

"Please help!" said a very small voice,

from somewhere around Mr Bear's ankles

and clinging on to the doorstep was Mr Rabbit Bun.

"Our warren collapsed!" he wailed.

"The Hoot-Toowits' nest blew away, the Buzzies' hive is ruined,

"and we can't find baby Flora!"

Then Mr Rabbit Bun vanished into the night.

"Help is on its way!" said Mr Bear, grabbing tools

and a honey sandwich, just in case.

"Do be careful, dear," said Mrs Bear.

"Don't worry," said Mr Bear, as he blew down the garden.

"I'll be fine."

It was a long way to the Rabbit Buns' house.

Mr Bear tripped and stumbled over branches,

and several times, his lantern nearly blew out.

"Aaargh!" A tangle of feathers and claws blew into his face.

"Eek!" squawked Mr Hoot-Toowit.

"Oh, it's you!" they both cried in unison.

"I can't see your house anywhere," said Mr Bear, peering into the dark.

"You're standing in it," said Mr Hoot-Toowit, sadly.

And there lay the remains of the tree that the Hoot-Toowits

had shared with the Buzzies and Rabbit Buns.

"Oh, Mr Bear! Thank heavens you've come!" cried a voice.

"Please can you help us find Flora?

"And can you fix our hive?

"And mend our nest?"

Mr Bear found himself surrounded by rabbits, owls and bees.

"Help!" thought Mr Bear. "What on earth am I supposed to do?"

He scrabbled around in his toolkit and found his honey sandwich.

A brilliant idea occurred to him.

"What's that for?" asked one of the small Rabbit Buns.

"Glue," said Mr Bear, peeling the sandwich apart.

"Hive glue, in fact.

"Look, I'll spread a little here and another little dollop, there."

"And then there'll be a sticky mess," groaned a small Buzz.

"Oh, dear," said Mr Bear. "Mrs Bear will fix that.

"She's very good at that sort of thing."

"And what about my nest?" said Mr Hoot-Toowit?

"Well, let's see," said Mr Bear, picking it up.

And then the nest fell apart in his paws.

"Oh!" Mrs Hoot-Toowit sighed.

"Er, yes," said Mr Bear. "Mrs Bear will knit you another in no time."

The animals put the sticky hive and broken nest into Mr Bear's toolkit,

just as the heavens opened.

Rain poured down through the trees and the animals ran for shelter.

Mr Bear's lantern hissed, and then fizzled, and then went out.

"How will we ever find Flora now?" wailed Mrs Rabbit Bun.

And Mr Bear anxiously looked up to the sky.

"Good grief!" he cried. "I've found her!"

And there, high in the branches of the sheltering tree

was a tiny rabbit, wrapped in a blanket and fast asleep.

"I'll just climb up and get her," said Mr Bear.

"What a hero you are!" sighed Mrs Rabbit Bun.

But Mr Bear did not feel heroic as he inched up the slippery tree,

which creaked and groaned with every move.

At last, he disentangled the blanket, cradled Flora in his arms,

and "Aaargh!" yelled Mr Bear. "Wee-ee!" said Flora, waking up.

"Gosh, what a good idea!" said Mr Rabbit Bun,

as Flora's blanket fanned out into a perfect parachute.

Mr Bear and the bunny floated safely down to the ground.

"What a brilliant Mr Bear!" said Mrs Rabbit Bun, hugging his knees.

Mr Bear re-lit his lantern and loaded his friends into his toolkit.

"Hold tight!" he said. "I'm taking you home."

Back through the storm they went until reaching the top of the hill

and could see Mr Bear's house with lights on.

"Not far now," he said. "We're nearly there.

Mrs Bear had been busy organising beds for everyone

and, when her nettle soup had warmed every tummy, large and small,

the Bear house filled with snores.

And then Mr Bear sank into a chair with a groan,

and Baby Bear clambered onto his tummy.

"What a brilliant Mr Bear your Daddy is," said Mrs Bear.

"So good at fixing things."

HE YAWNS

Mr Bear gave a huge yawn.

"In fact," continued Mrs Bear, "I have more things for Daddy to fix.

"There's the squeaky bathroom door, the blocked sink,

"and the smokey chimney."

HE SNORES Mr Bear gave a loud snore.

"But they can all wait until tomorrow," said Mrs Bear.

"Even brilliant Mr Bears need a bit of rescuing at times," she said,

tucking a blanket around Mr Bear and the baby and heading up to bed.

And that story was called, Mr Bear To The Rescue.

Mmm, I like the idea of a honey sandwich.

It'd be just right with my mug of tea.

In fact, I think I'll just go and find one while you go off to bed.

And I'll see you soon for another story. Goodnight!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]