June wanted to be a bear.

 

She saw bears at the zoo.

She saw bears in books her mommy and daddy read to her.

And she saw bears in her dreams.

 

Finally, she told her dad about her dream.

“Daddy, I’ve decided I want to be a bear.”

 

Her daddy laughed and said, “If you were a bear, you could climb the tallest tree in the woods behind our back yard.”

 

So, she went to climb the fifty-foot tree.

 

She started climbing the tree and only got up one foot.

 

Did she give up? Nope.

 

She tried the next day and got up one foot and one inch.

 

Did she give up? Not yet.

 

Everyday she climbed the tree, and everyday she got just a little higher.

“This is taking forever!” She thought. “How will I ever become a bear?”

 

One day, on her way to the tree, a big brown bear stopped her in her tracks.

 

“What are you doing in my woods, little girl? Don’t you know I eat humans like you?”

 

June was surprised. “I’m a bear just like you,” she said.

 

Brown bear laughed and said, “If you were a bear, you could outrun me. Otherwise, you’re just a human. A delicious human.”

 

So the bear roared and started chasing her.

 

June was scared, so she ran. She ran and ran but the bear was catching up.

 

She ran and ran until she came to the fifty-foot tree.

 

She jumped up onto the tree and started climbing.

 

Brown bear, being a bear, jumped on the tree and started climbing, too.

 

June climbed and climbed like her life depended on it, because, well, it did.

 

She climbed so strong and so fast, that before she knew it, she was at the top!

 

She looked down from way up high to see if the bear was still chasing her.

 

Brown bear was only half way up the tree, with a shocked look on her face, looking up at June.

 

“I was wrong about you,” said Brown bear. “You’re more of a bear than anyone I know.”

 

June came down and Brown bear introduced June to all her bear friends.

From that day forward, they met every Tuesday afternoon to drink tea and climb trees.