Dr Thompson, who is a geriatric specialist at Bethesda Hospital, shared his love of bears with Pre-Primary and Year 1 boys through his picture book, which was released last month.

In The Other Bears, Mother and Father Koala are suspicious of the OTHER bears. They do not like the pandas and they do not trust the polars. The black bears are noisy and the brown bears have big teeth. But all their grumpiness melts away, watching the littlest bears at play.

Dr Thompson’s book, which was completed in his spare time and took over one and half years, is described as an eloquent tale of tolerance and acceptance that appeals to young and old readers.

He told the boys he had drawn pictures for as long as he could remember and that his Year 2 teacher had showed him how to make his first picture book. The boys were asked to name the different kinds of bears, many of which are featured in the book.

Dr Thompson’s visit was part of the Centre for Ethics guest speaker programme.