I loved reading this story and felt that my understanding deepened after finding more out about Litchfield's inspiration- the song 'Little Room' by The White Stripes'. A stunning debut from British author/illustrator David Litchfield, The Bear and the Piano offers a lovely, heartfelt exploration of the meaning of home and family, especially when one chooses to leave their society of origin to travel to another.

It all links to the book The Bear and the Piano and should be easy to adapt for what your school is doing. The message is artfully subtle, never clunky or heavy-handed, and the takeaway for kids may be unconscious, calming any anxieties about following their deepest desires and dreams, and reassuring them that they'll be loved and supported even as they go forth. Bach loved coffee and once said, “Without my morning coffee, I’m just like a dried-up piece of roast goat.David first started to draw when he was very young, taking inspiration from his greatest companions: books and comics. David first started to draw when he was very young, creating Star Wars and Indiana Jones ‘mash up’ comics for his older brother and sister.

Spelling Seeds have been designed to complement Writing Roots by providing weekly, contextualised sequences of sessions for the teaching of spelling that include open-ended investigations and opportunities to practise and apply within meaningful and purposeful contexts, linked (where relevant) to other areas of the curriculum and a suggestion of how to extend the investigation into home learning. This is a moving tale of exploration and belonging from an exciting debut author-illustrator, boasting some beautiful artwork. Litchfield's distinctive style and rich illustrations provide the perfect accompaniment to this tale of tenacity, exploration and belonging. ARABESQUE No 1 – The French composer Debussy never had much money during the first world war, when coal was so expensive.In THE BEAR AND THE PIANO, a young bear finds a piano that's inexplicably sitting in a clearing in the forest. David Litchfield first started to draw when he was very young, creating Star Wars and Indiana Jones 'mash up' comics for his older brother and sister. But something draws him back again and again as he grows to maturity, until finally the full-grown bear is an accomplished pianist. He has fame, fortune and all the music in the world, but he misses the friends and family he has left behind. In this three-week Writing Root for The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield, children arrive to class to discover an advert and, after being given tickets, attend a ‘concert’ of piano music.

Beautifully illustrated and sensitively told, “The Bear and the Piano”, will delight the whole family. The Sunday Times -'The influence of the great illustrators Jon Klasen and Shaun Tan are detectable in David Litchfield's opulent The Bear and the Piano. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. After playing piano to great acclaim and winning awards and fame, the bear starts to long for the forest again.Make a poster announcing a concert with the famous bear and the piano – either in the big city or for the animals in the forest. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. The bear community is proud of its talented member, even though they're sad he's had to leave them to nurture his talent. Sunny lives on an arid plain with his extensive and loving meerkat family; they work together, play together and together do their best to stay away from jackals!