"An unusual friend helps Arthur to cope with his feelings about the impact upon his own life of a brother with autism in a very thought provoking story"
Arthur is understandably surprised when Mr P turns up at his door expecting to stay: Mr P is a huge polar bear with small black eyes, and long sharp teeth. Fortunately for Arthur and his family Mr P is polite and friendly and his stay as a guest brings about all sorts of changes for the better. Having to look after him makes Arthur see things differently while Mr P’s uncritical, tolerant presence is a calming influence on Arthur’s brother Liam, who finds it difficult to act the way others do. This is all mixed up in a funny, often surreal story about the challenges of managing a polar bear at school, and with a sub-plot concerning a tense football match. Readers will be entertained as well as moved, and there’s depth beneath the humour.
Readers who enjoy this story would like Lob by Linda Newbery, or The Last Polar Bears by Harry Horse.
There are times when only a polar bear will do ... All I want is a normal family but no, I've ended up with the brother from Weirdsville. Liam is so embarrassing, but Mum and Dad can't see that and give him all the attention. Leaving me with zero! Zilch! A big fat NOTHING! And I'm not really sure how an enormous, funny, clumsy polar bear is going to help with all this, but he was standing on the doorstep, so I had to invite him to stay, didn't I? Well, what would you have done?
Meet Arthur and his brand new friend, Mister P - the world's most helpful polar bear! Packed with gorgeous illustrations throughout, this story has heart and humour in equal measure and is sure to be a hit with developing readers and as a great book to be read aloud.
Maria Farrer lives in a house in the middle of a field in Somerset with her husband and her very spoilt dog. She used to live on a small farm in New Zealand with a flock of sheep, a herd of cows, two badly-behaved pigs and a budgie that sat on her head while she wrote. She trained as a speech therapist and teacher and later she completed an MA in Writing for Young people. Maria loves language and enjoys reading and writing books for children of all ages, she is the author of two Young Adult novels including the well-received Broken Strings, She likes to ride her bike to the top of steep hills so she can hurtle back down again as fast as possible. She also loves mountains, snow and adventure and one day she dreams of going to the Arctic to see polar bears in the wild.
