Little Bear Series

Little Bear Series

Else Holmelund Minarik

Maurice Sendak

Chapter Book

A Kiss for Little Bear:

                Little Bear is drawing a picture of monster. The picture makes him happy, so he wants to send the picture to his Grandmother.  Little Hen agrees to take the picture to Grandmother.  Grandmother is so pleased with the picture that she sends a kiss back to Little Bear via Little Hen. Little Hen wants to talk to her friends, so she passes the kiss to another animal.  The animals just keep passing the kiss on until it reaches Little Bear.

                I thought the book was rather full of unnecessary to do about the kiss especially when the two skunks were passing the kiss around.  They do get married at the end of the book. I can’t imagine that my darling second graders would really appreciate this story… It is a sweet story, just perhaps a bit too sweet.

Father Bear Comes Home

                Little Bear and Owl are commissioned by Mother Bear to go and find a fish.  Little Bear is delighted to have a change to fish.  While he and Owl are fishing, he imagines that he is catching a whale, only it is a small whale. No, it’s an octopus.  Mother says No thank you to the whale and octopus, but is very grateful for the little fish.

                In the next story, Father Bear is out fishing. While he is fishing, Little Bear tells his friends an exaggerated tale of how his Father is going to catch a mermaid. This mermaid is just going to be the most exotic thing the animals have seen, so they all follow Little Bear home. Unfortunately, Father Bear hasn’t brought home a mermaid and his friends are very disappointed.

                The third story is about Little Bear catching the hiccups. He asks Mother to cure them, but they just stay. Then he asks each of his friends in turn how to stop his hiccups, but they have no solution for him.  Finally Father Bear is able to help chase away Little Bear’s hiccups.

                The final story highlights the time that Mother Bear, Father Bear and Little Bear went on a picnic by the river. Little Bear is determined to swim with a mermaid. He and his friends discuss mermaids, but none of them sight a mermaid.  Little Bear goes home disappoint, but hopeful that someday he will see one.

                Little Bear is always a favorite of parents, teachers and children. I was disappointed by the multiple references to mermaid and for this reason, wouldn’t recommend it for a school library.

Little Bear and the Marco Polo 

                Today was the day to help Grandfather clean out the attic! What treasure will they find? They find a sea captain’s jacket and hat. It’s a perfect fit for Little Bear! Next they find a picture of Grandfather’s ship, Marco Polo.  Grandfather shows him on the map all the places that they could sail to. They decided to go look at the Marco Polo in the dry docks. Little Bear is sure that someday he will sail the Marco Polo around the world. Then they go home and have a picnic with Grandma.

                A story of reminiscing, remembering and passing on the stories to the next generation. This is really special story of spending time with Grandparents and hearing their stories. A fun story to read for Grandparent’s Day or for children to read to their Grandparents.

Little Bear’s Visit

 It’s a special day! Little Bear is going to visit Grandmother and Grandpa Bear.  First he enjoyed looking at all the special things in their house, and then they enjoyed a snack. After snack, Grandpa was sure that he had lots of energy to do all the things that Little Bear wanted to do. After he sat to tell Little Bear a story, Grandpa fell asleep. Little Bear had to trot out to the garden to ask Grandmother to tell him a story.

                Grandmother tells Little Bear a story about when his mother was a little bear. Little Bear liked the story very much.  After the story was over, Grandfather appeared, so it was his turn to tell the story since Grandmother had to go fix coffee. Grandfather told a scary story about a goblin who heard something running behind him. 

                Soon it was time to go in and Little Bear thought that he could lay on the couch while he waited for his parents to come.  He was so tired that he fell asleep.  His parents came and they all went off home together.

                I’m was so sure about the goblin story, but the rest of the book is funny and imaginative. Readers who aren’t quite ready for chapter books will enjoy this book. It’s long (64 pages!), but it’s full of words that they have learned and can read. It’s a good book for them to read by themselves.