Toppsta - Childrens Books – Reviews

  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes
The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes Compare Prices Add to Wishlist

The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes

by
,
Lydia Monks

The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes Reviews | Toppsta

Book Rating: 5 based on 16
16 Reviews
Write a Review

A glittering magical adventure about a girl, a bear and some very special shoes from the bestselling creators of What the Ladybird Heard and Sugarlump and the Unicorn . When Josephine leaves the shoe shop after buying some new running shoes, she hears an unusual sound - Click-click! Click-click! It's a bear with a backpack! Luckily for Josephine, her new shoes are anything but ordinary - these are magic shoes. But can they help her escape the bear when there's a mountain, a bog and even a lake in her way? The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes is an exciting adventure from the stellar picture-book partnership of Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks, creators of What the Ladybird Heard . Full of action and imagination, and with a delightfully unexpected ending, this gorgeously glittery book is one to enjoy over and over again. Enjoy all the stories from Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks: Sharing a Shell, The Princess and the Wizard, The Rhyming Rabbit, The Singing Mermaid, Sugarlump and the Unicorn, Princess Mirror-Belle and the Dragon Pox, What the Ladybird Heard, What the Ladybird Heard Next and What the Ladybird Heard on Holiday .

The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes Reviews | Toppsta

9781447275985

Share on

See All 4 editions

Featured Book
Book pages Starfell: Willow Moss and the Lost Day
Starfell: Willow Moss and the Lost Day

Misfit witch Willow Moss holds the fate of the magical world of Starfell in her rather unremarkable hands . . . A spellbinding new fantasy series for ages 8+

View book
Featured Book
Book pages Malamander
Malamander

Our reviewers LOVED this magical mystery set in Eerie-on-Sea, recommended for ages 8+

View book

If you like this try

Category

See More Fantasy & magical realism

See More Adventure stories

See More Picture storybooks

Sign up to our newsletter for...

Free Book Giveaways, Recommendations & more

24th April '19
I read it to Nancy1 aged 3 aged 3
The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes 9781447275985
5 stars
We loved it! Another lovely colourful book from Julia Donaldson.  It is brightly illustrated and eye catching with sparkly bits! Appealing to a three year old. Great for a quick and frequently asked for read at surface level if thats all you want to use it for. Nice unexpected but amusing twist at the end. However, different shoes are used in the story and different places and environments visited which leads to lots of discussion about weather, footwear, terraine....Don't think this is a shallow story - it is pitched to the right level for a small child but has a lot of hidden learning in it. We used a lot of 'look at the difference', 'why do you think', 'I'd choose....', 'why would you need', 'where do you wear...' type chats which took the book to another level.
23rd May '19
I read it to Eviebobs aged 2 aged 2
The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes 9781447275985
5 stars
We've read this several times now and we haven't lost any enjoyment of it on subsequent reads.  It's a joyous book about a young girl who buys magic shoes but is chased across a range of different landscapes by a large bear.  It's wonderful for extending toddler vocabulary- there's a focus on both colour words and verbs to describe ways of travelling.  The illustrations by Lydia Monks are bright and beautiful.  In particular, I find that my eyes are drawn to the ingenious way that the trees have been depicted (using the images of pine needles).
23rd April '19
I read it to Samanna1 aged 4 aged 4
The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes 9781447275985
5 stars
We received this book this morning and my daughter has asked me to read it 3 times already and she’s sat and looked through all the pictures and felt the pages as the trees are bumpy, the clouds have bumps to make the swirls and the shoes have glitter coming off them. A lovely tale that children can join in with pit a pat went Josephine’s shoes. My daughter enjoyed joining in a lot. The pages are full of detail and are lovely and bright so great for young children. My daughter also spotted the Grufulo on one of the wellies which made her day. A great book.
23rd April '19
I read it to Littlestar aged 2 aged 2
The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes 9781447275985
5 stars
A fun story about a girl who has a new pair of shoes which enabled her to climb up mountains, ski, swim and walk through mud whilst trying to run away from a bear. She soon discovered the bear wasn’t trying to chase her after all and they enjoyed the adventure together home. 

We enjoyed the story and my daughter said she liked the girl and the bear. Whilst I enjoyed reading it I prefer the Julia Donaldson stories which rhyme. However, my daughter really enjoyed it and stayed attentive throughout. I think in time she will make the sounds with me. 
5th May '19
I read it to ThePBBNursery aged 2 to 5
The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes 9781447275985
4 stars
The Girl, The Bear and The Magic Shoes is a fun, brightly illustrated and (quite literally), a glittering read! 
The story starts by introducing us to the young girl who has ventured into a shoe shop to buy some new trainers for running. The pair that she ends up purchasing has a tag that states that these shoes are magic, but it's not obvious how they are magic... As she leaves the shoe shop in her lovely new shoes, the girl notices that someone is following her. A bear! As she runs away from the bear she comes across many challenging obstacles such as a snowy mountain, an icy slope, a muddy swamp and many more. She wonders how on earth she is going to make it through these obstacles safely, but thankfully, something tells her to "just keep running and don't stand still!" 
The story is reminiscent of a reversed 'Bear Hunt' tale - it is quite the adventure! The class thoroughly enjoyed the book and have accessed it frequently by themselves since we shared it altogether. They've even used it to 'play schools' and pretend to read the story to their class. One 3-year old commented that her 'favourite bit is when the shoes change into different things. I like the snow boots!' Another child wondered 'why is there a bear in a shoe shop?' (You do discover the answer to this during the story but I don't want to spoil the ending.) 
26th April '19
I read it to PMK aged 8 aged 8 , to MAK aged 6 aged 6 & to DFK aged 4 aged 4
The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes 9781447275985
4 stars
We are huge Julia Donaldson fans in this house but unfortunately this book fell short for us as it just seemed like a more illustrated version of the classic We Are Going On A Bear Hunt, which was hugely disappointing given the plethora of unique books Julia Donaldson has created over the years. Our four year old quite liked the different coloured footwear as the story changed, but for the older children (six and eight) they too thought it was just like We Are Going On A Bear Hunt and did not understand why. Good full page illustrations with glitter in places, and a gesture of repetitive rhyme but not to the normal contagious levels of rhyme that we love in Donaldson's other books.
27th April '19
I read it to EGW aged 4 aged 4
The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes 9781447275985
4 stars
Read to my 4 year old daughter. We love reading Julia Donaldson books, and although we thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, I personally was disappointed by the lack of rhyming words throughout the story .However, the sections which did including rhyming words, my daughter was able to join in and repeat the rhyming words. Overall, we enjoyed the look of this book, there was glittery pages throughout, and the storyline. 
13th May '19
I read it to Samuel aged 3 aged 3
The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes 9781447275985
4 stars
Josephine needs a new pair of running shoes. She buys a pair labelled ‘magic shoes’. She’s not long left the shop when she notices that she’s being followed by a large white bear. She runs off with the bear in hot pursuit. She encounters numerous obstacles: a steep mountain, deep mud and a lake. At each she feels defeated but her shoes magically change, enabling her to carry on. However, the bear is never far behind and, eventually, he catches up with Josephine…

As you’d expect from a Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks collaboration, the book is great fun. There are also lovely echoes of Michael Rosen’s We’re Going on a Bear Hunt: the onomatopoeic language as Josephine squelches through the mud and splashes across the lake, and the reversal of the journey at the end.

Lydia’s colourful illustrations are full of expression and character and there’s a fabulous sprinkling of glitter on every page too. I really like how she also includes fabrics and photos in her illustrations – the red and white gingham for Josephine’s shorts, the lace of the shopkeeper’s apron, the pine trees on the mountain side and the printed fabrics used for foliage.

I enjoyed how the story challenges our preconceived ideas about characters. I also liked the nods and references to other Julia Donaldson or Lydia Monks books: the Gruffalo and ladybird wellies in the shoe shop, and the familiar books in the bookshop window.
1st May '19
I read it to Jessieboo aged 4 aged 4
The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes 9781447275985
3 stars
We are big fans of Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks. However this was not as good as most of their books. It doesn't have the rhyme and rhythm that most of Donaldson's books do. The illutrations are lovely and my little girl liked the glitter and nods to other Donaldson books. The story isn't as clever as most stories are.
Show More (0)
ajax loader
Featured Book
Book pages Starfell: Willow Moss and the Lost Day
Starfell: Willow Moss and the Lost Day

Misfit witch Willow Moss holds the fate of the magical world of Starfell in her rather unremarkable hands . . . A spellbinding new fantasy series for ages 8+

View book
Featured Book
Book pages Malamander
Malamander

Our reviewers LOVED this magical mystery set in Eerie-on-Sea, recommended for ages 8+

View book

About Julia Donaldson

Julia Donaldson Biography

Exciting news for Julia Donaldson, as she has just been made a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the New Year's Honours List 2018. This is after being made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2011. 

Julia Donaldson is a highly talented author of some of the best-loved children’s boo...

More about Julia Donaldson

Books by this author

BOOKS BY Julia Donaldson

Books by this author

BOOKS BY Lydia Monks

About Lydia Monks

Lydia Monks Biography
Lydia Monks is a bestselling illustrator and author of children’s books, best known for her collaborations with author Julia Donaldson. Many of their books have become household favourites, including [url=https://toppsta.com/books/details/what-the...

More about Lydia Monks

Books by this illustrator

BOOKS BY Lydia Monks

Ratings

    8 stars
  • (8 Reviews)
  • (6 Reviews)
  • (2 Reviews)
  • (0 Reviews)
  • (0 Reviews)
Toppsta
Copyright © 2015 Toppsta. All rights reserved