THE TEDDY BEAR THAT PROWLED AT NIGHT

Story by Edna G Deihl Illustrated by Mary LaFetra Russell Revised and edited By Ellie Dixon

© Scruffy and Friends 2007

Once upon a time, a long while ago, four little Teddy Bears lived in a cosy, peaceful bedroom. They had once lived in a Factory Jungle with a lot of other Teddy Bears. But that was before Father Christmas saw them, and took them to live with a little girl called Jane. Jane loved her Teddy Bears very much when she saw them sitting up straight and tall under the Christmas tree. Three of them were brown like cinnamon, and one was as white as snow. Jane picked up one of the Brown Bears and hugged him real hard. He growled so loud that Jane laughed. “Well,” she said, your name shall be GROWLY!”

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She picked up another of the Brown Bears and looked at him closely. She saw he looked exactly as if he wanted to howl. So she called him HOWLY! The third Brown Bear had his face all crumpled up in wrinkles. “My, but you can scowl,” she said, “your name shall be SCOWLY!” Then Jane looked at the White Teddy Bear. Because he was as white as snow, she thought Snow White might be a good name. But it didn’t sound like a Bear name, so she didn’t know what to do. One night Snow White ran off. Jane couldn’t find him anywhere at bedtime.

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In the morning she found him under the dining room table. Then she knew what to call him! “If you are going to prowl all over the house, I shall call you PROWLY!” she said. And she was very pleased, for now all her Bear Family had suitable names.

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Jane was very kind to all her toys. She was particularly interested in the Bears because they had only just come to live with her. “You mustn’t be jealous,” she told the dolls, “I have trained you very well. You know how to behave. But these little Bears have just come from the Factory Jungle, and don’t know anything about manners or good behaviour. I shall have to spend a lot of time training them, but I do love you just as much as ever.” Then she sat all the Teddy Bears in a row, and looked at them. The first thing she noticed was that Prowly was the most beautiful of all the Bears. His wool was soft and white and glossy. His eyes were a deep melting brown, and he had the most adorable little nose! But the Brown Bears, or Cinnamon Bears, as Jane loved to call them, were not so beautiful. Their wool was coarser and their eyes were smaller and not nearly so expressive.

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Jane loved the little White Bear because he was so straight and beautiful and white. But she knew that beauty is only skin deep, and that it would the Bear who listened to what she had to say to him and who did what he was told, that would be most beautiful when he grew older. So she sat right in front of them on the floor of her bedroom and gave them some good advice. Meanwhile the six well-trained dolls sat on Jane’s bed and listened while she talked to the new members of the family. “Listen little Bears,” they heard her say, “have you ever heard that beauty is only skin deep and handsome is as handsome does? So little Bears, if you want to grow up strong and straight and beautiful, you must listen to what I tell you.”

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“If you want to be beautiful, you must learn to do as you are told. You must never leave home without me, but must stay right here unless I tell you it’s alright to go outside my bedroom. And if you wish to be strong, healthy, straight little Bears, you must get your beauty sleep above everything else.” Growly and Scowly and Howly listened very carefully to everything that Jane told them, but Prowly, who knew he was beautiful, said, “Poof! Poof! I don’t need to do as I am told or go to bed early.” Jane shook her head sadly, as she repeated, “You also heard me say, Prowly, that beauty is only skin deep.” Then, as it was seven o’clock, she tucked every one of the little Bears into bed, just as she did all her other toys every night. www.scruffysbookshop.com

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The bed in which the Bears slept was very beautiful. It was white painted wood with a cool green forest painted on the head board and a shady stream flowing on the foot board. Jane tucked in the Bears with a pink blanket that was covered full of dancing Teddy Bears and kissed them goodnight.

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Scowly and Howly and Growly slept all night. But Prowly lay awake listening for the old clock to strike twelve. As soon as he heard the last stroke, he kicked off his beautiful pink cover and climbed out of bed. Then, with just one glance at his brothers, whose brown heads were close together, he ran away in search of an adventure. Jane found him the next morning. He was in trouble as usual. His foot was caught in a mouse trap, which had been placed in the kitchen. Jane bandaged it as carefully as she knew how, but from that day he walked with a limp. “Oh, Prowly! Prowly!” Jane said when she saw him limping around her bedroom. “You will soon not be beautiful at all! You are losing all your beauty sleep prowling around at night.”

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Prowly turned his nose up even further than before. “Poof! Poof!” he sniffed, “a little lame food is nothing. I am still far more beautiful than my brothers!” The very next morning Jane found him lying on the front door step! She wondered how he had ever got out of the house! When she picked him up her hands got all sticky! “Where have you been prowling now?” she asked. Prowly could not open his mouth. His lips were stuck together with honey! Just then her Dad’s friend came around the corner of the house. “I wonder who was at your Dad’s beehives?” he said. “One has been knocked over and the honey quite spoiled!”

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Jane didn’t answer him, but she looked very sad. She picked up Prowly and carried him to her bedroom. She knew he was the one who had been fooling around the beehives. His nose was badly swollen and his coat was full of honey. When she showed him how he looked in the big mirror on her wardrobe door, he was a bit scared! For one whole week he stayed in bed all night long, and never prowled anywhere. But while he stayed in bed, he spent the nights telling his brothers stories of the great, wide, wonderful world, which he knew so well. “You are babies and scaredy-cats!” he said. “You will never know anything!”

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Then one night he persuaded them to go with him in search of an adventure. His face was not swollen any longer, and Jane had washed the honey from his white coat, so he had quite forgotten his lesson. Growly and Howly and Scowly followed Prowly through the bedroom door, and out into the hall, just as the clock was striking twelve. They were very frightened, for when they reached the top of the stairs, which led down into the great, wide, wonderful world that Prowly had told them about, they could hear very plainly that the clock was really saying very slowly, and quite clearly:

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“YOU-ARE-BAD-YOU-ARE-BAD-YOU-ARE-BAD-YOU-ARE-BAD!” The three Cinnamon Bears wanted to run back to the bedroom, but Prowly pulled them forwards. “Don’t mind that old clock!” he said, “I’ll fix him!” So he climbed up and opened the little door on the front of the old clock, and made it stop. The clock did not scold any more! Prowly knew his way so well, that he SLID DOWN THE BANNISTERS! But the three Cinnamon Bears were afraid! carefully and slowly down the steps, but Growly before they knew what had happened …. bumpety-bumpety-bump, down every step, and bottom in a pile! www.scruffysbookshop.com

They went very slipped and then .. they had fallen, were lying at the

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Prowly picked them up. He led them quickly to the kitchen. They were so frightened all they could do was follow where he led. When the little clock in the living room struck ONE, the four bears were all sitting around the kitchen table eating the porridge which had been left ready for breakfast. When the clock struck TWO, the Bears were sitting listening to the radio, which Prowly had switched on, after he had been careful to shut all the doors. How they spent the rest of the night, no-one knows! And how they got to the cellar is a mystery! But Jane’s Dad found them all in the coal bin the next morning!

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When Jane saw them, she cried! The Cinnamon Bears were very, very dirty, and Prowly was as black as ink! “You must be punished!” she said. “Prowly, you are the naughtiest of all. I know it was you who led your brothers into mischief.”

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It was Monday morning and Jane’s Mom was doing the washing. Jane handed the Bears to Mom, who threw them all into a big tub of soap-suds. “Please be careful of the Cinnamon Bears,” said Jane, “their coats might run and besides it is not their faults as much as it is Prowly’s. They should not have listened to him, but he tempted them to do wrong.” So Mom picked Growly and Scowly and Howly out of the water and held them upside down so that the water wouldn’t run into their eyes. But she left Prowly lying head first, and let the soap suds do their work! Soon his skin tickled under his fur, and his eyes, although he kept them shut tight, felt sore and red.

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And when Mom took Prowly out of the soap suds, she threw him into a tub of blue water, so that his fur would not turn yellow. Jane stood at the window and watched her Mom while she hung all four Bears on the clothes line to dry. It took eight pegs to hang them up, one for each ear. Jane standing at the window, laughed and laughed and laughed! But the Teddy Bears did not laugh. As Jane was going to her grandma’s house to spend the night she asked her Mom to take the Bears off the line when they were dry. But Mom forgot! The sun went down behind the hills. stars twinkled.

The moon came up.

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The moon laughed and the stars laughed when they saw the Teddy Bears hanging on the clothes line. They were quite dry by this time, and the Cinnamon Bears were one and all fast asleep! But Prowly was shaking his head angrily. Just then through on open window upstairs, came the voice of the old clock. “ONE-TWO-THREE-FOUR-FIVE-SIX-SEVEN-EIGHTNINE-TEN-ELEVEN-TWELVE!” Prowly was so used to jumping at the sound of the old clock’s voice that he started wildly to wriggle! He wriggled until one clothes peg fell out. Then he could wriggle even harder! He wriggled until the second peg fell to the ground.

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Then PROWLY FELL TOO! He fell flat on his beautiful pink nose! A big bump came out on his one fat cheek! And one arm was broken! Rover, the big watch-dog heard Prowly crying. “What is the matter with you?” he asked, in a loud cross voice. “Please be quiet! You are spoiling my beauty sleep.”

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“Oh, I am hurt! I am badly hurt! Ouch! Oh my!” Rover left his kennel and his beauty sleep, and came over to help Prowly. When he reached him he saw the three Cinnamon Bears hanging on the clothes line. “How did this happen?” asked Rover. But Prowly was crying too hard to tell him. Rover, who believed in helping anyone in trouble, first pulled the sleeping Cinnamon Bears from the clothes line. He did it in six jumps, and with six bites at the line. He laid them on the grass beside their weeping brother. Their faces were beautiful from their sleep in the moonlight. “You may all stay in my kennel until morning,” Rover said.

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Then because Growly and Scowly and Howly were still fast asleep and very quiet, he carried each one to his kennel and very gently laid them on the floor, where they slept until morning. Rover tried to comfort Prowly and started to carry him to his kennel house too. He was cross at him for waking him up, but he was also very kind. But Prowly yelled so loud that Rover at last gave up. He said he could limp over as best he could. At last Prowly too, entered the kennel. He lay down on the floor beside his brothers. But the hard boards hurt his broken arm and he cried and cried! Poor Rover hardly had any sleep at all listening to his sobbing.

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Towards morning he quieted down, but he could not sleep. When he tried to get comfortable on the hard boards, he thought of his soft bed. Then he thought of Jane and how kind she was. “If I ever get back home, I’ll be SO GOOD!” he cried to himself. Jane found them the next morning when she went to feed Rover. She shook her head. She could not understand how they ever got into Rover’s kennel, nor why Prowly’s arm was broken, and his nose flat, nor how he got the bump on his cheek. She had given up ever trying to train him.

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But when she got back to her bedroom, Prowly did something he had never done before. He lay very quietly in Jane’s arms, and with his big brown eyes, he told her he was sorry! Prowly never left his bed any more to prowl around at night. Neither did he try to show off about the great, wide, wonderful world to the Cinnamon Bears. And they all lived happily ever after.

THE END

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Stories for Reading Aloud A good selection of stories for reading aloud can be found at Scruffy’s Bookshop. www.continue.to/storiestoreadaloud New stories are added regularly, so keep checking back – remember you need a good choice of stories to suit your mood, and you can never have too many!!

How to tell Stories to Children If you enjoy this, you’ll love the full text of “How to tell Stories to Children” which gives you simple, step-by-step instructions to becoming the story-teller everyone wants to hear more from!! Learn more ….. www.continue.to/storyteller

Kids of Character If you are looking for stories and activities that will develop strong ethics and high moral standards in your children, then visit www.wakeup.to/kidsofcharacter This is a dedicated part of Scruffy’s Bookshop filled with beautiful stories communicating traditional values like trustworthiness, responsibility, respect and caring, together with carefully chosen activities based on the books to reinforce the messages they contain. These activities are both interactive and printable and include: * * * * * * * * * * *

jigsaws cooking crafts matching games short plays to act out, crosswords, quizzes word searches songs sudoku. and many more .... over 100 to choose from.

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They’re all hosted online so you don’t have to use up valuable computer memory – and of course you are free to download them whenever, and as many times, as you want. Learn more at www.wakeup.to/kidsofcharacter

Books on CD

If you like our vintage illustrated children’s books and want to use them for storytelling, then it makes sense to buy them as CD collections – the savings are enormous and with 25 books on each CD there’s lots of material to keep you going. Visit www.continue.to/scruffysbooksoncd to find out more.

About Us Scruffy’s Bookshop is based in deepest rural Devon, England where Ellie Dixon lives with her dogs, Scruffy and Polly. Ellie has brought up her own daughter, and now spends her time restoring and editing vintage children’s literature to appeal to today’s kids. When not busy with her business, she can usually be found on the beach or getting involved with local community activities.

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Copyright Information Copyright statement Copyright © 2007 Scruffy and Friends Ltd

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