About Teddy Robinson - Joan G. Robinson

...One of the fabulous things about books for very young children is how they are timeless. Unlike some of those for older ones, which need references to game boys and S Club 7 and the internet to remain on reading lists, with tiny ones all you need is imagination and, in some cases, a teddy bear.

Teddy Robinson was created by Joan G Robinson in the 1950s, but is still the topic of many bedtime stories around the world today. I was introduced ...
...we needed some more stories about him to read at home. Luckily this wasn’t a problem since my mother was the type who believed in reading to children. We already had hundreds of children’s books, so half a dozen more weren’t going to make that much of a difference.

Mr Robinson is a very talented bear. Never one just to be cuddled at bed time, he shows off his talents for talking, driving busses, swimming and dancing ... more

“Highty tiddly ighty,
A teddy bear wearing a nightie
Can feel he’s dressed
And looking his best
(he couldn’t do that in only a vest)
highty tiddly ighty”

Allow me to introduce an old friend – Teddy Robinson. He’s a nice, big, comfortable friendly teddy bear. He has light brown fur and kind brown eyes, and belongs to a little girl called Deborah.

One of the fabulous things about books for very young children is how they are timeless. Unlike some of those for older ones, which need references to game boys and S Club 7 and the internet to remain on reading lists, with tiny ones all you need is imagination and, in some cases, a teddy bear.

Teddy Robinson was created by Joan G Robinson in the 1950s, but is still the topic of many bedtime stories around the world today. I was introduced to him in class 1 (now Reception class) and in true Zoë style, made it known that we needed some more stories about him to read at home. Luckily this wasn’t a problem since my mother was the type who believed in reading to children. We already had hundreds of children’s books, so half a dozen more weren’t going to make that much of a difference.

Mr Robinson is a very talented bear. Never one just to be cuddled at bed time, he shows off his talents for talking, driving busses, swimming and dancing throughout the stories. His world renowned songs also put in an appearance in almost every tale, the most well remembered in our family having to be “Highty tiddly ighty” which was spouted off by my 23 year old sister over Christmas when I brought up his name.

The stories are truly delightful – each one focuses on a set event to which young children can relate– an outing to the toyshop, or a birthday party for example – and the language used and pictures included mean that the tales are suitable for even tiny children. There’s nothing really complicated in the tales, but the wonderful way in which they are told help you believe that even your teddies could be, ahem, superheroes.

The blurb on the copy in front of me says age 4 and up, but assuming you’re reading aloud, then I’d say they were suitable from maybe age 2, and certainly age 3. Because the focal point is a teddy bear, they can be enjoyed by both boys and girls – most of the kids I babysat for were the former, and naturally enough my sister and I were the latter, but we all liked them.

They are not as widely available as they used to be, and on many occasions when I was babysitting, the children had never heard of him. In contrast I remember a conversation we had in our 6th form Common room towards the end of A Levels – I’m really not sure how the topic came up, but when it did there were collective gasps along with exclamations of “I remember him!”.

The first book (the series spans 4 or 5 others) has 9 short stories which, depending on your child, could last 9 nights or (as in my case) only 2…. They are prefect bedtime length (meaning that when I was reading to the kids I was looking after, my voice managed all the way through) but the demanding ones out there might well pester for 3 or even 4 or 5 in one go. I’d say go for it, since reading with your children is great for their development, but I do appreciate that I’m not a parent who has to read day in day out.

They aren’t in bookshops that often any more (ooh, things ain’t how they used to be) but amazon has them, as do some libraries, so fear not.

And that is the end of the opinion on our old friend Teddy Robinson.
 

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