The Great Big Bear
supporting · bear
A very large bear with a very large voice, who turns out to be the gentlest one in the house.
What they are like
- Kind
- 10/10
- Brave
- 7/10
- Clever
- 6/10
- Honest
- 9/10
- Curious
- 4/10
- Patient
- 9/10
How we meet them
Suggesting a walk while the porridge cools, which is a sensible and slightly fussy thing to do.
Personality
Booming and slow and much kinder than his voice suggests. He is the one who ends the story by telling her to come in.
What they want
Breakfast, a walk, and a quiet life.
How they change
Finds a stranger asleep in his house and, three days later, invites her to stay for porridge.
How they speak
Very loudly and in capital letters. The last thing he says is the quietest and kindest thing in the story.
How the story treats them
The story sets him up to be frightening and then declines to make him so.
One surprising thing
His voice is described as gruff, which is the same word used for the trolls in other English tales. Here it belongs to the kindest character in the book.
If they were real today
He would be the neighbour with the enormous voice who brings your bins in.
Things they say
- “SOMEBODY HAS BEEN EATING MY PORRIDGE.”
- “Well. You had better come in, then.”
Key moments
We shall go for a walk
The porridge is too hot, so he suggests a walk, and they leave the door open because it is that sort of wood.
“We shall go for a walk.”
You had better come in, then
Three days later a girl is standing in his doorway holding a homemade stool and unable to speak, and he solves it in eight words.
“Well. You had better come in, then.”
Who they know
Goldilocksneighbour
The loudest voice in the story says the kindest thing in it.
Characters like The Great Big Bear
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