Little Bear

An American Library Association's Notable Book

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Else Holmelund Minarik

Minarik's first book, Little Bear, was written for her daughter, typed up personally by Ursula Nordstrom, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Harper & Row's juvenile division, and holds the distinction of being the book which launched the company's new "I Can Read" series in 1957.

In a 2006 interview with The Star News of Wilmington, N.C. Minarik described why she chose to keep Little Bear a bear rather than change the character to a child as suggested by publishers other than Harper & Row,

"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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Synopsis

Little Bear plays outside in the snow, celebrates his birthday, pretends to fly to the moon, and asks for a story about himself at bedtime.

Each chapter centers around Little Bear's developing independence and Mother Bear's affection for him.

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World Context

Re-reading Little Bear, I find myself fascinated by Mother Bear's parenting! 

She listens to Little Bear even when she is in the middle of another task, helps him to make better choices, reassures Little Bear when he is concerned she forgot his birthday, and encourages his pretend play but sets boundaries about being back in time for lunch! Finally, Mother Bear is gently, but firmly truthful about Little Bear's unrealistic wishes.

Parenting is a challenging task and not for the faint of heart, but Mother Bear is a role-model for all of us. Little Bear has an affectionate, stable parent who cares for his physical well-being, his emotional development, and his intellectual curiosity.

Little Bear climbed to the top of a little hill,
and climbed to the top of a little tree,
a very little tree on a the little hill,
and shut his eyes and jumped.

Down, down he came with a big plop,
and down the hill he tumbled.
Then he sat up and looked around.
"My, my," he said.
"Here I am on the moon."

"The moon looks just like the earth.
Well, well," said Little Bear.
"The trees here look just like our trees.
The birds look just like our birds.
And look at this," he said.
"Here is a house that looks just like my house.
I'll go in and see what kind of bears live here."

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Maurice Sendak

Most of us know Sendak's work through his 1964 Caldecott Medal book Where the Wild Things Are. By this time, he had already completed the illustrations for four of Minarik's Little Bear books & earned a 1962 Caldecatt Medal for the illustrations in Little Bear's Visit.

Sendak's career was widely varied: his first professional commission was a window display for the toy store FAO Schwarz followed by illustrations for a science textbook! He served on the Board of Advisors for the Children's Television Workshop in the early development of Sesame Street. Throughout his career he created television programs for children, collaborated with playwrights, designed sets for opera and ballet -- my favorite is the Pacific Northwest Ballet production of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker.

In 2011 Luke Davis recounted an anecdote Sendak share with him regarding what he considered the highest compliment he ever received:

"A little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children's letters – sometimes very hastily – but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, 'Dear Jim: I loved your card.' Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said: 'Jim loved your card so much he ate it.' That to me was one of the highest compliments I've ever received. He didn't care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it."

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Learning Connections

In addition to using the book for reading development, there are a number of learning topics you can explore:
Weather & Seasons

• What's the Weather?, Trinity University Digital Commons, In-depth 12-day lesson plan
  
• Kindergarten Weather & Seasons Worksheets and Printables, Education.com
• Four Seasons Activities, Teaching Where You're Called
  

Birthday Traditions

• Birthdays Around the World, Kid World Citizen
  

The Moon

• Exploring the Moon, K-4, Moon Munchies Educator's Guide, NASA
  
• Mon Phases, K-2, SpaceRacers.com
  

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Ages: 5 -9; Primary grades; 63 pages. A story about Little Bear's adventures which encourages early readers' skills.

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