The Bear and the Piano

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Huffington Post —‘A heart-warming and beautifully illustrated tale of music, friendship and adventure.’ The Guardian –‘This book is full of breath-taking scenes, from the stunning forest to the rich New York skyline.’ 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.’ Make a list of arguments ‘for’ and ‘against’ the bear leaving the forest and going to the city (or when he is in the city thinking about going home again). SABRE DANCE – Khachaturian was a Russian composer in the 20th century. The Sabre Dance is his most famous piece and has been used in dozens of films, most recently Madagascar 3.

ARABESQUE No 1 – The French composer Debussy never had much money during the first world war, when coal was so expensive. Debussy paid for it by writing compositions for the coal man. When the bear is learning to play the piano, different illustrations show the same scene at different times of the year. Could you create a similar sequence of images? The Daily Mail —‘A sumptuous treat… [Litchfield] weaves magic with light and space…The ending will have your heart soaring like a soprano’s top C.’Write a letter from the bear to his family at the point when he is recording albums and winning awards for his music. One day, a bear cub finds something strange in the forest.” Use this line from the book’s blurb as the starting point for your own story. Write a newspaper article about the bear’s first performance. Use the headlines shown in the illustrations as a starting point. When you watch the full animation, listen out for the following pieces of music and learn more about the composers who wrote them. You’ll be surprised how many you will recognise: Find out more about the author’s A Drawing a Day project. Could you try to create a drawing every day?

Listen to Four Notes – Paul’s Tune, a piece improvised on the piano by dementia sufferer Paul Harvey, then orchestrated by Daniel Whibley (). Why is this story so moving, especially at the moment? Why do you think music is often remembered longer than words? The bear sees something ‘that made his fur stand on end’. What does this mean? Have you ever felt a similar feeling? PRELUDE IN C MINOR – Another piece by Bach. Well, his music is so good, after all. Bach loved coffee and once said, “Without my morning coffee, I’m just like a dried-up piece of roast goat.” The bear’s friends hang special objects in the tree above the piano. Could you create something similar to record your own special achievements and memories? Watch this animation that was created to promote the book. Could you create your own animated trailer?

PRELUDE IN C – This was written by J.S Bach, a German composer, in the 1700s. Bach had 20 Children. Imagine Christmas day at his house! When the bear plays, he dreams of strange and wonderful lands. Listen to a piece of piano music and draw / write / describe what it makes you dream of.

The Bear and the Piano animation score includes some well-known piano pieces written over the last 400 years alongside Daniel Whibley’s original music. Watch the trailer below: The author’s heroes and biggest influences are Albert Uderzo, Jon Klassen and Shaun Tan. Can you find out more about these people? Can you see any of their influences in this book? The bear plays his piano on Broadway. Where is this? Can you find out more about it and write a travel guide?