Little Bear is a series of children's books written by Else Holmelund Minarik and primarily involves Little Bear, an anthropomorphicbear cub, and Mother Bear, his mother.[1] The first book in the series, titled Little Bear, was published in 1957 by Harper and Brothers, now known as HarperCollins.[2] It is an ALA Notable Children's Book.[3]
The five original Little Bear books were illustrated by Maurice Sendak. The books published from 2002 to 2010 were illustrated by a variety of illustrators. In 2010, two years prior to her death, Minarik published the final book, Little Bear and the Marco Polo, which was illustrated by Dorothy Doubleday.[2][4]
Little Bear: A friendly, curious, and imaginative grizzly bear cub who lives in a forest.
Mother Bear: Little Bear's prominent mother.
Father Bear: Little Bear's father, a fisherman.
Grandmother Bear: She likes to tell stories and bake things.
Grandfather Bear: He loves to dance and play.
Emily: Little Bear's friend, a human girl.
Lucy: Emily's doll and imaginary friend.
Hen: One of Little Bear's friends.
Author
Else Holmelund Minarik had a long career in writing.[8] She wrote many books including the entire Little Bear series.[2] Else Holmelund Minarik was born in Denmark in 1920, then moved to New York when she was 4 years old.[2] Reynolds (2021) states that she always loved the fairy tales written by Hans Christian Andersen, inspiring her own writing.[1] She studied Art and Psychology at Queens College before working as a reporter for The Daily Sentinel of Rome, New York.[2] Then she changed her career to be a first-grade teacher on Long Island.[2] Her teaching career, as well as her daughter, inspired her to finally write the first Little Bear in 1957.[1] Minarik died at the age of 91 in 2012 after the final Little Bear book came out in 2010.[2]
Illustrators
Maurice Sendak was the first illustrator of the Little Bear books, he died at the age of 83.[2][9] He won a Caldecott medal for Where The Wild Things Are in 1964, and then became known for innovative children's books.[9]
Chris Hahner illustrated Little Bear's Loose Tooth, A Present for Mother Bear, and Asleep Under the Stars.
Heather Green illustrated Little Bear's New Friend and Little Bear's Valentine.[10]
David T. Wenzel illustrated To Grandmother's House and Little Bear Makes a Scarecrow.
Dorothy Doubleday illustrated Little Bear and the Marco Polo.[11]
Little Bear books (in chronological order by date they were released)
Little Bear (1957): Readers are introduced to Little Bear and his mom, Mother Bear. The reader finds out that Mother Bear knows what Little Bear needs by giving him a warm outfit, a good lunch, and plans a wonderful birthday for him. This book shows us the inner life of Little Bear, his family, and friends.
Father Bear Comes Home (1959): Little Bear goes on many adventures including fishing, managing the hiccups, seeking out mermaids, and welcoming his father home from being at sea.
Little Bear's Friend (1960): Little Bear makes a new friend with a girl names Lucy and her doll. When Lucy has to leave when the summer ends, she leaves a sad Little Bear until they can come up with a solution to stay in touch.
Little Bear's Visit (1961): Little Bear visits his grandparents. Grandfather lets him try on his clothes, and grandmother cooks for him. Little Bear hears stories from their past and enjoys his time with them.
A Kiss for Little Bear (1968): Little Bear sends a hand drawn picture to his Grandmother, and she sends him back a kiss through his friends. The kiss goes from Hen to Cat, then to Little Skunk, and eventually to Little Bear.
Little Bear Makes a Scarecrow (2002): Little Bear uses a scarecrow to keep crows away from his corn, but it is blown away by wind and so he dressed up as a scarecrow himself.
Little Bear's Loose Tooth (2002): Little Bear has a tooth waiting to come out. His friends, Emily, Cat, Duck, and Owl, work together to help him get his tooth out so he can give it to the tooth fairy.
Little Bear's New Friend (2002): Little Bear goes on his first camping trip and makes a new friend: Cub. Cub lives in the woods and helps Little Bear explore his nature-filled home. They go on a wild adventures where Cub shows Little Bear things he's never seen before.
To Grandmother's House (2002): Little Bear gathers delicious snacks in his wagon to take to his Grandmother's house. He meets many hungry friends while he walks along the way and learns how to share.
A Present for Mother Bear (2002): Little Bear searches for the perfect present for Mother Bear's birthday. Each of his friends come up with ideas that they think is best, but Little Bear must make a good choice for Mother Bear.
Little Bear's Valentine (2002): Love is in the air as Little Bear sends valentines to all his friends and his mother. He also tries to figure out who his secret admirer is that sent him a valentine.
Asleep Under the Stars (2004): Among his friends, Little Bear camps out in his garden for a Spring night under the stars. He has never slept outside before so he is nervous, and quickly learns that there are many unknowns outside.
Little Bear and the Marco Polo (2010): In the concluding book to the series, Little Bear finds his Grandfather's old captain's uniform from when he was at sea. His Grandfather then wanted to show Little Bear something more compelling: his boat.
Omnibus Editions
Little Bear Treasury (2003)
Adventures of Little Bear (2005)
Audiobooks
In 1996, British actor Peter Sallis, best known as the voice of Wallace from the Wallace & Gromit franchise, narrated a pair of audiobooks from the Little Bear book series, those being Little Bear and Little Bear's Visit.[12]
Reviews
The New York Times Book Review named Little Bear "one of the best children's books of the previous half century" in 1997.[2] Critics appreciate Else Holmelund Minarik's prose and the "Victorian-inflected" illustrations originally done by Maurice Sendak.[2] Before publishing with Harper, Minarik showed Little Bear to Random House, where an editor made a suggestion to change the bears into humans, which she disagreed with.[2]
The Little Bear books were the first of an "I-Can-Read" series that includes vocabulary for developing young children to learn.[1] They are known as easy to read books for children learning how to read for the first time.[1] The illustrations show very realistic looking bears that could almost be human, not done as cartoons but expressive images.[1]
In an interview about the series in 2006, Else Holmelund Minarik discussed why she chose bears as the represented animal: "I thought to myself, all children of all colours would be reading the stories. All children love animals. The bear is fine. I love them because Mother took me to the Bronx zoo every day, and I fell in love with the cubs. My bears were a family."
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