The Little Brown Bear and other stories by Enid Blyton is a collection of fifteen short stories titled Forgetful Fanny, The Little Brown Bear, Hold Your Tongue!, You Can't Catch Brer Rabbit, The Man Who Drew Faces, Santa Claus Gets Busy, The Little Girl Who was Shy, One Christmas Eve, A Shock for Mister Meanie, The New Little Milkman, Because My Mother Does, Jack Gets a Chance, Five Times Five Are . . ., The Boy Who Borrowed and The Wishing Feather.
The Little Brown Bear is about a little boy named Tony who is very fond of bears and wishes that he had one for a pet and asks Santa Claus for a bear for Christmas. His wish comes true when he finds a baby bear in his garden shed one day. Tony makes friends with the bear who is very gentle and plays with him and buys buns and honey from the baker every day to feed the bear.
A few days later Tony finds out that a bear has been reported missing from the place where young animals are brought up and trained for circuses. Tony is very sad when the bear is taken away but he is rewarded with something even better.
One Christmas Eve is about an old violin player, named Simon who plays beautiful music. It begins with Simon going into a Church where children are enacting a little scene of the Nativity.
It is a beautiful Nativity scene with the Christ Child in a manger inside a stable surrounded by Angels and Shepherds. On Christmas Eve, Simon goes back to the Church alone to play the violin for the Holy Child, and is magically transported to the real Nativity of Jesus and hears angels singing beautifully.
Reviewed by Hannah George