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Sally Grindley
Curly Bear had curly fur, and he hated it.
"Why can't I have straight fur like other bears? Curly fur is for she-bears and I'm a he-bear."
The other bears told him not to be so silly, and that his curly fur suited him.
But Curly Bear wouldn't listen. He tried combing his fur with water. That made it go straight, but as soon as it was dry it went curly again.
He tried plastering it down with Timothy's mum's hair mousse. That made an awful mess everywhere, but it did make his fur go straight - and very, very stiff. Timothy's mum found him and put him in the washing machine. He didn't like that one bit. When she took him out and dried him, his fur went curly again.
So Curly Bear tried Timothy's dad's hair oil. That made his fur go very straight and gave it a beautiful shine. But it also made him so slippery that he kept falling off the shelf, and he didn't like that one bit. Timothy's mum found him and put him in the washing machine again. And when she dried him, his fur went all curly again.
Curly Bear hated his curly fur so much that he hid himself away in a cupboard. He was sure the other bears laughed at his curls. But he was wrong. Old Bear, whose fur was worn away, and Tough Talk Ted, whose fur was cropped short, both wished they had fur like Curly Bear. And Bella the Ballerina Bear thought Curly Bear was the most handsome bear she had ever seen.
It was Bella who found Curly Bear hidden away in the cupboard.
"What are you hiding in here for?"she asked.
Curly Bear said that he didn't want to see anyone, that he hated his curly fur, and that he knew everyone was laughing at him.
Bella threw her arms around him and gave him a great big hug and told him that he was the most handsome bear in the world and shouldn't be so silly.
Curly Bear didn't believe her at first. But, after a while, he saw that perhaps his curly fur wasn't so bad after all. And after a little while longer, he began to like his curly fur. And now, if you asked him, he wouldn't change it for the world.
