Hado Bear's Secret
“What’s wrong with me?” sighs Hado Bear as he sits in the gift shop window. “Why doesn’t anyone bring me home?”
How many children feel the same way? Worried there’s something wrong with them. Feeling they don’t fit in because they look different, have different customs, speak differently, or simply don’t know anyone.
Join Hado Bear on his first adventure. Where he meets Janine, a little girl who’s also afraid no one likes her.
Hold your breath as Hado Bear shares his secret with Janine. Smile when Janine and Hado Bear both learn that we are all perfect just the way we are, and then share this powerful message with other children.
Praise for Hado Bear's Secret
“In one whisper, Hado Bear became alive in my heart. I immediately wanted Hado Bear to be my classroom companion to help teach my students a new way of thinking. This book will be passed along from generation to generation, neighbor to neighbor, friend to friend, for all to experience a Hado Bear Journey.”
~ Daniel Tortorella, M.S.Ed., Special Education Teacher
“Hado Bear’s Secret is an important book for children to hear as it is a mirror of children’s unspoken concerns. Children learn from Hado Bear how to think and be kind to themselves, that judging themselves harshly is unnecessary, and to see themselves through kind eyes and internalize a ‘knowing’ for themselves of who they naturally are. It is a family experience!”
~ Linda Watson, RN, MS., Family Life Skills and Wellness Coach
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
Hado Bear’s Secret will reach kids ages 4 and older with a picture book story of a stuffed polar bear who lives in a gift shop and waits for somebody to buy him. Many kids pass him up for other kinds of toys, and Hado Bear is lonely and feels unwanted. Why isn’t anybody buying him? Eventually someone does buy him and he goes home with a new family – but when should he tell them his big secret?
Gorgeous, colorful illustrations by Melanie Hall accompany a gentle tale that invites adults interested in read-alouds to choose this for young children. Such interaction assures that the more ethereal message in the story can be discussed and absorbed by this audience: “Aunt Donna, do you remember telling me about ‘Hado’ ? You said our lives are all made out of something that we cannot see. It is our life energy. Energy is always working inside of us, always in motion. That’s why our heart beats and why we can breathe and do all the things we do. The Japanese have a word for that invisible life energy, the word is Hado.”
“That’s right, Janine,” Aunt Donna answered. “Just as a mirror reflects what we look like back to us, our thoughts and words are reflected back to our life energy, our Hado. Our good thoughts and words make our Hado strong and happy, attracting good things to us. Meanwhile, our negative thoughts and words can make us feel weak and sad.”
One doesn’t expect such a contemplative tone in a children’s picture book; but that’s one of the exceptional offerings in Hado Bear’s Secret: an opportunity for adults to open a discourse on the power of positive thinking to an age group that usually doesn’t receive such messages in a simple enough form to be understandable or compelling.
Hado Bear’s Secret isn’t really about the bear’s special ability – it’s about his special, encouraging message; and this should be an intrinsic part of any youngster’s growth, helped along by this book.
The secret is out – and it’s a powerful, uplifting message indeed; backed by the force of a stuffed bear who is different, special, and who imparts a key message about love and acceptance to his new family.
Hado Bear’s story is highly recommended as a standout for children and parents who would choose a picture book for its message as much as its entertainment value and fine visual presentation.