There was so much to be seen while the bear was being made. He couldn‿t stop looking around, and so he ended up crooked. That‿s how he became a special bear. The stuffed animals from the factory were loaded into a lorry. The special bear hopped aboard. ‿Hang on!‿ said the driver. ‿You‿re no good. Nobody wants you.‿ He tossed the bear back into the container. ‿But I‿m a cuddly bear,‿ said the special bear. ‿I‿m sure I can become someone‿s cuddly toy.‿ He climbed out of the container and went looking for someone to belong to‿ The Special Bear is a story about being different, but very normal nevertheless. It‿s about friendship, love, and about belonging. You would wish everyone to have a special bear, and to have The Special Bear.

Tjibbe Veldkamp writes picture books, stories for young children and young adult novels. Lemniscaat previously published his picture books Bert, Get off the Crane!!, Tom the Tamer and most recently But First I Caught a Monster which won the 2021 Silver Slate Award.