As a young girl I liked to read a series of books. Strangely, as an adult, I have steered away from book series, preferring to read stand alone books like Jane Eyre and Great Expectations.
I have noticed that both my boys loved to read a series of book when they were in the prep school. Greg seems to have outgrown this now and reads a lot more stand alone books but Michael is busy reading his way through all the Secret Seven books by Enid Blyton. I think that children find a series comforting with its familiar characters. Young children definitely like repetition and while the requests to read books over and over again, until you could recite them backwards, does eventually stop, the concept of a book series stays around for much longer.
Rupert the Bear is a very memorable book series for me. I loved them as a child and I have a vintage collection of these books as an adult. I have read them many times to both my boys and I still enjoy them.
Rupert the Bear
The Rupert the Bear books are written along the lines of a comic strip but there is a lot more sophistication in the writing, illustrations and story lines than in a standard comic.
Rupert is a great character and he is polite and helpful which are characteristics that are worthy of promotion to children. He has lots of interesting friends, most of which are animals that are given the bodies and characteristics of humans. An exaggerated form of personification. All of the animals are drawn to the same scale, regardless of whether the animal is an elephant, fox or a bear. My personal favourites of Rupert’s friends are Podgy Pig and Bill Badger. A couple of humans feature in the books such as the Professor and Tiger Lily. There is also a Merboy, who lives in the ocean, who reappears frequently in the books.
Rupert lives in a lovely English village called Nutwood and he is always getting involved in exciting adventures that take him to interesting places under the ocean and in magical countries. Rupert and his friends are also subject to mysterious weather conditions and other strange happenings.
According to Wikipedia, there are 82 Rupert the Bear annuals. I don’t have anywhere near that many so I have some shopping to do.
Did you know:
Rupert Bear started life as a daily comic strip in the newspaper in order to compete with the Daily Mail’s Teddy Tail ( first published in 1919 ) and the Daily Mirror’s Pip Squeak and Wilfred, Britain’s first ever comic strip introduced in 1915.
Rupert Bear has stood the test of time, having been seen in the Daily Express every day for over 90 years and having his own Rupert Annuals published since 1936.
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Robbie and Michael Cheadle are the co-authors of the Sir Chocolate Book series and Robbie Cheadle is the author of Silly Willy goes to Cape Town
Blog: robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15584446.Robbie_Cheadle
Facebook: @SirChocolateBooks
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YAAAY – Another Rupert the Bear Fan 👍👍👍👍👍
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Absolutely, Chris. I like all the British bears.
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And apes 🦍 I hope 😄
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My British hubby grew up reading Rupert the Bear. I named the Main Coone cat, in Amanda in England – The Missing Novel, Rupert.
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Yes, you did, Darlene, although I didn’t make the connection until now.
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My granddaughter just turned one, is walking, has said a few words, and is intently interested in the world around her. It won’t be long before she’s ready to enjoy some of the adventures of Silly Willy, and Sir Chocolate. I hope all is going well. Take care.
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Thank you, Patrick. I think grandparenting is a wonderful experience. It has been complete chaos at work this year so far but I am hoping it will calm down soon.
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I well recall my four birthday – 1960 – and waiting for the promised Rupert Annual which came out to coincide with Christmas shopping. In the middle it had a picture that you just had to brush with a damp paint brush and you got a coloured pciture. I thought this magic! Oh the sophistication!!
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Sounds absolutely brilliant, Geoff. I love Rupert annuals and also Dandy and Beano.
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Did Beezer still exist when you were growing up or am I that old? It was another on the list of great comics!
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I have not heard of that one, Geoff, or seen any about.
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Wonderful books! Thanks for telling! The characters seem to be fuuny!
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These books actually have really good storylines, Maria. You should give them a try.
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Certainly I will! Thanks for enlightening, dear Robbie! Besides, myself, I adore childish books. 🙂
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And I hear about Rupert for the first time here. Thanks, Robbie.
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That is so interesting, John, that you have not heard of Rupert. He is supposed to be the most popular of the British bears. Next time you travel to the UK, you must look Rupert up.
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I will for sure. Thanks.
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I love Rupert the bear! What a wonderful character! I grew up with a lot of him, winnie the Pooh and Amelia Bedilia. Let’s hope that Rupert is always left as he is and no one decides to dig him back up, like that monstrosity of a Peter Rabbit movie coming out…
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Oh no, I had not heard of a horrible Peter Rabbit movie. I must avoid it. Peter Rabbit is one of my favourite Beatrix Potter characters with my absolute favourite being Hunka Munka.
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I loved Rupert and really enjoyed reading him as a child. 💜
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I really enjoyed re-reading him to my kids, Willow. One of the great joys of parenting is that you get to revisit all of your childhood favourite books.
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Yes so much fun 💜
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A great book review, Robbie. I remember my teaching days, especially teaching K-3, also remember when my daughter was before 3rd grade. They do like series of familiar characters – that’s their imaginary world of friends.
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Yes, you are quite right, Miriam. Children love familiarity.
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Yes, that was the way I taught the kids and my daughter to mesmerize the nursery rhymes and simple books.😄😃
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I was never a Rupert fan I have to admit!
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He is my favourite British bear but I also like Winnie and Paddington.
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Winnie is just my favourite!!!!!
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Thanks for introducing me to Rupert, Robbie! Kids do love those series books and love to relate to their characters. As young readers my daughters love Amelia Bedealia, and I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed them too! 🙂 xo
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Rupert is a lot of fun, Bette, you should have a look at the books sometime. It seems from the comments, that Rupert is better known in the UK than the US.
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Massive fan of Rupert the bear Robbie!
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Of course you are kindred spirit (wink!)
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Hmmm interesting. I still like series but mainly because I’m nosy and want to know what happens to characters
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I think I am impatient and that is why I prefer a stand alone book. Things are wrapped up much faster.
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That’s true:)
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I have never read one of the Rupert the Bear stories. I read every Famous Five book and I’m sure my mom still has them.
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Rupert is really wonderful, Tandy. I still enjoy these books a great deal.
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Hi Robbie. We had the same tastes in reading when we were children. I loved Rupert Bear and all the Enid Blyton series.
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Yes, definately. I loved Enid Blyton (still do like her books). I also loved Paddington, Winnie the Pooh and My Naughty Little Sister.
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I had a Rupert annual and read it over and over. Happy days 😉
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Thank you, Colin. My Mom used to get a Rupert annual and a Beano annual for Christmas every year after the war.
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Ah-ha, The Beano is created in Dundee, about 40 miles down the road from me. (There’s a statue of Desperate Dan in the city centre).
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Fabulous, Colin. I must try and see that some day.
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These books were some of my favourite stories Robbie as a child.. We never had many books as children.But we had a library van which came to our village once a month.. I so loved walking into that van and can even recall the smell of books it had back as a child..
And I would dive straight for these books 🙂
Thank you for reviving that memory 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend.. ❤
Hugs Sue xx
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I hope that you are also having a great weekend, Sue. We also didn’t have that many books which is probably why I have so many now – making up for lost time. I loved books and had 7 library cards. I used to cycle to the library twice a week so I read 14 books a week at least.
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WOW, that is dedicated reading.. 🙂 And we are similar as I love my books too 🙂
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He’s darling. It reminds me of Berenstein Bears, presented differently. Nice one, Robbie.
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Thanks Jacqui. I do know the Berenstein Bears and they are also really cute.
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Rupert Bear sounds like a book for all children to learn basic good habits. 🙂
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Rupert is one of favourite bears, Debby. The stories are really good.
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So sweet! 🙂
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I’m not familiar with the Rupert series, Robbie. Thanks for enlightening me.
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I think you would like Rupert, Norah.
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He certainly looks lovable. I’ll have to check him out next time I go to the library.
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I only wish I had kept my Rupert The Bear scarf which I had as a child. I’ve never been able to find a replacement. I’m a big fan of Rupert, and it’s lovely to see him get a mention here in the blogging world, Robbie. You may be able to find some the annuals on eBay, although I image some are rare and probably go for a lot of money.
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Thank you, Hugh. I love to poke around in charity and antique shops when I am on holiday. You will be amazed at what you find and the stuff is usually well priced. I have a collection of 10 Rupert vintage annuals in good condition. I also have some lovely Noddy books.
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Me too, Robbie. I could happily spend hours in charity and antique shops and at a car boot sale, although my partner is not as keen. Before I discovered the world of blogging, I spent a lot of time trading on eBay. Mainly computer games, some of which were worth hundreds of pounds.
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Fabulous, Hugh. Mr Fox doesn’t like antique shops much either although he does tolerate my passion. My Mom and I go together more; we could spend all day in antique shops.
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