It is autumn and as many forest animals are settling down to hibernate, others take up their instruments to play a special winter lullaby. The forest orchestra is organised by the Dormouse, who heads off to sleep, reminding the others that under no circumstances must they wake Mr Bear. At first all is quiet but then, suddenly, a group of merry-making wolves crash into the forest. They are a lively bunch, and don't care about not waking Mr Bear - they just want to party! Their joie de vivre is infectious and it's not long before the forest orchestra have swapped their flutes and harps for guitars and speakers. It's all tremendous fun until a dark, bear-shaped shadow looms over the forestOA funny story that also teaches the importance of the rhythms of nature.

As they prepare for a party, the animals in the forest try not to wake the huge bear sleeping in a nearby tree.

It was Spring Party Day, the best day of the year, So why were the animals trembling with fear? They'd heard growly noises and crept up to see . . . A huge bear asleep in the old hollow tree!

On a cold, snowy evening, several animals snuggle up to a hibernating bear in order to keep warm.

In late Autumn, The Bear is Preparing for a Winter sleep. Not to be disturbed, he hangs a sign on his door, reading "Do not wake me until spring". This message, however, is not acceptable to Masha, who wants to play with her friend. Read this funny story and be part of the crazy adventures of Masha and her forgiving companion.

"Murphy's skillful storytelling and optimistic spirit give even the grimmest moments of her difficult life story levity in this hopeful, spunky sister to Angela's Ashes."- Publishers Weekly Maura Murphy's memoir of life in Ireland and beyond resonates with the people, places, and struggles of an almost forgotten generation. Born "chronically ugly and cross as a briar" into a poor, rural homestead in 1920s Ireland, Maura faced adversity from birth. She grew up in the bogs of the Irish countryside and left school at fourteen for Dublin, working in service there until her marriage to a hardworking but hard-drinking womanizer. Poverty stricken and hoping to find a better life for her five young children, she left Ireland with her family for 1950s Birmingham, England. But life doesn't always change when places do, and Maura's fear that she'd be "waked" at Doyles bar upon her death is funny but dead serious. Her voice is feisty and fearless, and she needed to be all those things to survive an extraordinary series of privations and abuses. And now, seventy-five and having survived her childhood, recovered from cancer, and left her marriage of fifty years, Maura has finally recorded the story of her life. Don't Wake Me at Doyles is the compelling account of a life set against by bad odds and worse luck: a memoir of survival and success in the face of the limits of class, education, nationality, religion, gender, and even health. A fearlessly honest writer, Maura invites us into her world, through her destructive marriage, and the birth of her nine children, and towards a life-or-death choice that would change her forever. Told with biting wit, Don't Wake Me at Doyles is a personal story of one woman's endurance, and the remarkable memoir of an ordinary woman's extraordinary life.

Originally published in 1992 under the title Don't wake up mama!