Stranger in the Forest – Honeybear stories

In this, the first story in the Honeybear series, we meet Honeybear, an orphan bear living alone in the forest. She’s rather lonely and a bit timid, but delighted when she meets a mysterious stranger. He’s an escaped gorilla without a name, who she invites to stay for a while as winter approaches. She calls him Gerumph after the cute sound he makes.

When spring arrives in the forest, Gerumph tries to think of an adventure he can share with Honeybear, something she will enjoy, meanwhile he also misses his friends at the zoo. That’s when the idea comes to him: a trip back to his old home at the zoo – if only he can remember the way.

And if they manage to meet up with some of the animals, Honeybear and Gerumph must hope the keepers or other humans do not discover them, because if they are, they will be forced to flee in a desperate race to keep their freedom and avoid being captured.

Sample Text from Stranger in the Forest

Honeybear lived in the middle of a large forest. She had built herself a fine Tree House and loved to sit inside, looking out at the tops of the trees. She was rather a lazy bear and didn’t like going for long walks or bathing in the lake. Most days Honeybear was quite content to stay at home, where she would spend her time snoozing and preparing tasty meals.

Because she stayed at home a lot, she sometimes felt rather lonely. Honeybear knew most of the animals in the forest, of course, but none of them were what she would call a really good friend.
One day, while looking out from the Tree House, she caught sight of a dark shape in the undergrowth below.
Honeybear wondered what it was. ‘Perhaps another bear?’ she thought. ‘Or, maybe, a fox or a badger?’
But then, it called up to her. “Gerumph, gerumph,” it said.
Badgers don’t usually say things like that, Honeybear decided. Or foxes for that matter and certainly not bears! It doesn’t sound like any of those animals.
“Gerumph, gerumph,” the call came again and, in spite of being so lazy, Honeybear felt she just had to find out what it was.
So, she climbed down from her Tree House and looked around. But whichever way she looked, there was no one to be seen.
Suddenly she jumped in the air with surprise as the ‘gerumphing’ noise sounded right in her ear. She was almost afraid to turn around and see who or what it was. But Honeybear was quite brave in her own way and she did so, coming face to face with a large black animal with long fur, a mournful face, sad brown eyes, and very long arms.
“Who-who are you?” Honeybear stammered, trying to keep up her courage. “You gave me a fright, appearing out of nowhere like that.”

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Stranger In The Forest, the first of a new series of 13 ebooks and audiobooks available through our website at https://honeybearstories.com, and on Amazon, Apple and Audible. The stories are suitable for young children from 5 to 8 years old.