This was a children’s book that I read around age 5 or 6 around 1969. The main character is a bear who possibly befriends someone (a little boy?) and has to leave and say goodbye. All I remember is the ending is sad and it involves a bear and it made me cry and made my mother ask, “What’s wrong?’
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward? Very sad.
Thank you! You’ve solved the mystery. It was “The Biggest Bear” by Lynd Ward. As I look at the book now, no wonder it made me cry. One of the reviews says, “not a book to be read by animal lovers or sensitive children.” That is certainly me.
I cry when Pooh and Christopher Robin part – could that be it?
The Velveteen Rabbit? It’s not a bear but a rabbit… could be easily mistaken?
I was wondering also if it could be The Velveteen Rabbit. I certainly remember feeling sad when I read it as a child! 🙂
There’s Bernice Myers’ 1967 book “Not THIS Bear!” But that one’s funny, since it’s about a boy named Herman mistaken by a family of bears for their cousin Julius (because of his furry coat) so when he’s dragged off to their den, he has to prove he isn’t a bear. He does leave eventually – and there were sequels. More on it: http://www.loganberrybooks.com/solved-n.html
There’s also “The Bear That Wasn’t” (see Solved Mysteries)
http://www.loganberrybooks.com/solved-b.html
by Frank Tashlin. Both sad and funny, but there’s no boy involved – only adults.