Awesome Children’s Books, Part 3: Little Bear

This week we’ll look at one of my favorite book series from when I was younger. Grab some tea and cookies, and settle in for a good read!

A Little-Known Author

Currently on my bookshelf, I have four of the five original Little Bear books, written by Else Holmelund Minarik. Never heard of her before? Neither had I! During her   lifetime, she was a journalist, a children’s book writer, and a first-grade teacher in New York, having moved to America from Denmark with her family when she was four years old. While she wrote many children’s books in her lifetime, the Little Bear books are what she’s best known for.

A Celebrated Illustrator

And, much to the books’ benefit, they were illustrated by none other than Maurice Sendak, the author and illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are and many other classics. I will most certainly write a separate post about that book someday, but not today. Suffice it to say, his classic style lends a memorable, comfortable feel to these quaint stories. What the pictures lack in color, they make up for in expression.

Adventures at Home

So what are the Little Bear books about? Not surprisingly, they’re about a little bear and his adventures. But his adventures are of the homey sort—the kinds of things any young child can relate to. He plays in the snow, visits his grandparents, makes new friends, has a birthday party, and imagines flying to the moon. Obviously, Minarik didn’t feel obligated to cook up a brand-new plot idea, and I’m glad she didn’t. These are the kinds of stories I remember as being “cozy” when I was growing up.

A Practical Mother

After Little Bear himself, the second-biggest star of the show is Mother Bear. Since the stories are homey, Mother Bear is the biggest influence in her little cub’s life. In fact, in the first book, simply entitled Little Bear, she is almost the only other character! I think this is another way Minarik keeps her books relatable rather than innovative. Reading the stories now, I find Mother Bear’s attitude pretty funny, although I don’t think she was meant to be comical. But she’s just so literal! She reminds me of Mary Poppins, as a matter of fact; she’s generally practical with an occasional dash of silliness. For example, one day Little Bear announces that, since he has a new space helmet (a box with curly wires sticking out the top), he will be flying to the moon.

“Fly!” said Mother Bear. “You can’t fly.”
“Birds fly,” said Little Bear.
“Oh, yes,” said Mother Bear. “Birds fly, but they don’t fly to the moon. And you are not a bird.”
“Maybe some birds fly to the moon, I don’t know. And maybe I can fly like a bird,” said Little Bear.
“And maybe,” said Mother Bear, “you are a little fat bear cub with no wings and no feathers. Maybe if you jump up you will come down very fast with a big plop.”

A Gentle Mother

Wow, Mother Bear! Way to crush his dreams. Lest we judge her too harshly, I’m sure she was just making sure he didn’t break his legs by jumping off of the roof or anything. Plus, it was the fifties; kids didn’t need to be coddled quite as much back then. But Mother Bear does prove more flexible when she plays along with Little Bear’s make-believe toward the end of the story. He has jumped out of a tree and pretended to land on the moon. He discovers a house “just like his” and ventures inside.

Mother Bear came in and said, “But who is this? Are you a bear from Earth?”
“Oh, yes, I am,” said Little Bear. “I climbed a little hill, and jumped from a little tree, and flew here, just like the birds.”
“Well,” said Mother Bear. “My little bear did the same thing. He put on his space helmet and flew to Earth. So I guess you can have his lunch.”

Happily Ever After

The story ends happily with lunch, a nap, and lots of love, as many good stories should. The rest of the books include even more adventures, comical illustrations, funny scenarios, and relatable situations that I know you would enjoy. Do yourself a favor, and find some of these old classics. Read them, enjoy them, and remember when life was as simple and rich as your imagination could make it.

Source: Minarik, Else Holmelund. Little Bear. New York: Harper & Roe, 1957.