When Miss Cluck tells her little pupils that there is going to be a new animal in their class, they are all very excited. In fact, there are squeals of delight. Nobody expects the new animal to be a grizzly bear! So, when a rather bashful Boris enters the room, Leticia the rabbit, Fergus the fox cub, Maxwell the mole, and the little mice . . . scream! Boris is upset. He doesn't mean to be scary. He just wants to make friends. But he spends a lonely, miserable first day at school, he's just too big to fit in. When it's home time, Boris trudges through the woods, far behind the others. After all, it seems to him that none of them wants to be his friend. Then he sees some rats up ahead as they jump out from behind the trees. Boris hurries along to introduce himself (ever hopeful of making new friends) but, once again, his big bear grin terrifies the rats. However, to his astonishment, in scaring off the bullies Boris has truly endeared himself to Maxwell, Leticia, Fergus and the mice. A beautifully-observed story with a positive message about friendship and acceptance.
