The Bear Who Lost His Roar

Once there was a big brown bear named Barnaby who lived in the deepest part of the forest. Barnaby had the loudest, most magnificent roar in all the land—until the day it mysteriously disappeared!

One sunny morning, Barnaby opened his mouth to roar hello to the birds, but only a tiny squeak came out. The same thing happened when he tried to scare away a rabbit from his berry patch. Squeak! The rabbit just giggled and hopped away with Barnaby's lunch.

"Oh no!" Barnaby cried. "My roar is gone!"

He searched everywhere for his lost roar. He looked under rocks, behind trees, and even inside hollow logs. But it was nowhere to be found.

Finally, Barnaby visited the oldest owl in the forest. Owl pushed his glasses up his beak and declared, "You have lost your courage vitamin! It's the special magic that makes bears roar. You'll find it at the bottom of Sparkle Lake."

But Barnaby was afraid of water. Bears were not good swimmers, and Sparkle Lake was very deep and very dark.

That's when he met Glimmer, a tiny goldfish with scales that shimmered like rainbows. Glimmer lived in a small pond near the lake's edge.

"I'll help you!" Glimmer offered cheerfully. "I'm an excellent swimmer!"

Barnaby carefully carried Glimmer in a bucket of water to Sparkle Lake. The little goldfish dove deep, deep down into the blue water. Barnaby waited and waited, his paws crossed nervously.

Suddenly, Glimmer popped back up! In her mouth she held a glowing orange stone—the courage vitamin!

Barnaby swallowed it, and immediately felt warm and tingly all over. He took a deep breath and let out the mightiest ROAR anyone had ever heard! Birds flew from the trees, rabbits hid, and even the clouds seemed to shake.

"Thank you, Glimmer!" Barnaby cheered. "You're my best friend!"

And from that day on, the bear and the goldfish were inseparable. Barnaby taught Glimmer about the forest, and Glimmer taught Barnaby that true courage comes from friendship, not from magic vitamins at all.