Bear is having a bad day. Dad has waked him up with an overly-cheerful banging of saucepans, mum has run out of his favourite cereal, and he is going to have to take his younger sisters to the park. He is fed up, and even the arrival of his friends Fox, Dog and Mole doesn't cheer him. He doesn't want to play, but his friends pursue him, not understanding his bad mood. There follows a chase, where Fox, Dog and Mole always find Bear's hiding places, and in desperation, he climbs a tree. When Bear has to be rescued, he finds he has lost his bad mood and wants to play after all. The wonderfully expressive pictures are particularly helpful at the begining of the story in showing what it feels like to have a really bad day.