Lions and Tigers and . . . BEARS!!!
Celebrating Children’s Picture Book Month
Test your Knowledge of Literary Bears
What is it about bears that have made them such popular central figures in children’s literature? I have attempted to make a study of this phenomenon only to be overwhelmed by the triple-digit number of books featuring bears that exist today. Following is the most cursory of cursory glances scanning what I have discovered. Not only did we enter a new century in the year 2000, the initiation of the millennium brought about a virtual explosion of bears taking center stage in children’s literature. The website https://bookroo.com/explore/books/topics/bears lists one hundred titles, a great many of them published in the past twenty-five years. Bear books abound - literally!
As I review this abundance, it seems most titles are unassuming, comedic portrayals like CHILDREN MAKE TERRIBLE PETS. Published in 2010 and one of my absolute favorites, it stars a bossy bear named Lucille Beatrice whose daily attire is a pink tutu. Its exceptionally clever concept reverses the theme of pet ownership when Lucy absconds with a little boy she “finds” in the woods, brings him home, names him Squeaker, and tries to keep him despite her mother telling her that children make terrible pets. Written and illustrated by the quintessential Peter Brown, it’s well on its way to becoming a modern classic.
Similarly themed is the super silly book A BEAR AND HIS BOY by Sean Bryan. Published in 2011, it too reverses the theme of ownership and instead of a boy dragging a stuffed bear around, it’s the bear who wakes up to find a boy on his head. Illogical? Yes, but funny! Written in short rhyming stanzas, it’s likely a child’s first chance to practice “suspension of disbelief” cheered on by Tom Murphy’s simple line drawings and limited palette.
In 2002 BEAR SNORES ON launched a series of stories that feature a bear and his forest neighbors who assist him with the tribulations only a bear can have. His innocence mirrors a child’s early years, making him highly relatable. In the first story we are introduced to a hibernating bear who misses the party going on in his own den until he sneezes himself awake. Written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Jane Chapman, its humor lies in its rollicking rhyme and charming illustrations.
MOTHER BRUCE, which debuted in 2015, is the hilarious and comedic tale of a male bear who unintentionally acquires maternal responsibility for a clutch of baby goslings. The consequences of imprinting create successive mishaps that turn this story upside down. Written and illustrated by Ryan T. Higgins, it’s destined to become another modern classic.
In 2015 a more serious bear story was published. FINDING WINNIE is the true story of the WWI veterinarian who adopts an orphan cub in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada while awaiting deployment and ends up taking the bear overseas with him to the battlefield. Eventually, Winnie ends up at The London Zoo where he “meets” A. A. Milne and his son Christopher and becomes the star of Milne’s stories about Winnie the Pooh. Written by Lindsey Mattick and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, it is a sweet and rare biography.
Bears have also been used to carry the story lines of more poignant themes. For instance, IDA, ALWAYS published in 2016 is the story of two polar bears that live in a zoo. Written by Caron Levis and illustrated by Charles Santoso, it addresses the grief felt by a polar bear who loses his best friend to a terminal illness. Inspired by real bears that lived in NYC’s Central Park Zoo, its tone is subdued and bittersweet but redeems itself with its underlining theme of “love is everlasting.”
Another moving title is IVER & ELLSWORTH. Written by Casey W. Robinson, beautifully illustrated by Melissa Larson, and published in 2018, it is the story of Ellsworth, a giant, inflatable, polar bear perched atop a factory roof and the friendship he has developed with the man who takes care of him. When Iver retires, the two have to say good-bye to one another. It’s not quite as sad as Ida, Always, but I find its theme melancholy-inducing. Thankfully, it ends happily, helped along by its quaint and homey illustrations.
I think the fun thing about bears and their use in children’s literature is that because of their size and implied ferociousness, we’re supposed to be afraid of them. And in the wild, it would be unwise not to be, but in children’s books, the laugh is on us when they turn out to be fun-loving and harmless. They endear themselves to us when we see they are more bluff-than-bluster. Don’t we find ourselves sighing with relief when we realize that such a big animal might actually be friendly even though in reality, it’s a fantastical notion?
Curious about this modern-day bear infatuation, I decided to go back to the very beginning and try to find the origins of this passion. The first bear(s) to show up on the written page were the ones who discovered an incautious little girl in their house. Committed to paper in 1837, GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS, probably existed as an oral tale long before that, stemming from the folktale tradition and didn’t originally involve a little blonde-headed girl, but rather a thoughtless old woman. Since its publication we have seen numerous adaptations, but the bears are rarely portrayed as cuddly. The father especially is represented as authoritarian. The purpose of this story wasn’t to idolize the inherent cuteness of bears, however, but rather to teach children a lesson about respect.
Moving on, the next bear to show up in children’s literature is Baloo in Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 THE JUNGLE BOOK. Here is the prototype for the loveable, happy-go-lucky personality we’ve come to associate with bears. The stories were originally beautifully illustrated in monochromatic realism typical of the late 1800s.
Next up is WINNIE THE POOH, rotund and bumbly. Landing on the written page in 1924, he’s everyone’s friend. Ultimately kind and thoughtful, he states the obvious in his slow, bear-like delivery, appearing surprisingly wise despite the juxtaposed theme that runs through the books of Pooh being a “bear of very little brain.” Written by A. A. Milne, the stories are brought to life by E. H. Shepard’s spare and winsome illustrations.
Read more about my love of Winnie the Pooh who celebrated his 100th birthday last year.
In 1948 BLUEBERRIES FOR SAL was published. Written by Robert McCloskey who also illustrated it in monochromatic blue and white line drawings, the success of this innocent, unassuming story isn’t the bears per se, as no deliberate attention is drawn to them. Neither is the disparity between the two mothers. Instead, the story celebrates that “a mom is a mom,” which resonates with any child who has misplaced his mother in the grocery store.
Ten years later, a bear that embodies all the things we love about bears hit the stage. A BEAR CALLED PADDINGTON written by Michael Bond and illustrated by R. W. Alley and published in 1958 is a sweet story about a polite, kind-hearted bear who, because he is unfamiliar with life away from the jungle, is naïve and prone to making mistakes. With the innocence of an immigrant, he just doesn’t understand how his new surroundings work. Unassuming, his charm lies in his integrity.
Written by married couple Jan and Stan Berenstain and published in 1962, we see the arrival of THE BERENSTAIN BEARS. Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Brother Bear, and Sister Bear were loosely modeled on the Goldilocks trio but were friendly grizzlies. I didn’t like them when I was a kid, and I didn’t like them any better when I became a mom. I curiously remember wondering why my daughters seemed to like them because to me, the illustrations were unappealing, and the stories were unimaginative and wearisome. And while I understood the authors’ intentions, I disagreed with their delivery. It seemed unnecessary to repeatedly bonk kids over the head with each tale’s blatant lesson - now totaling over 300 in a recent tally.
Later in the decade, in 1968, we are introduced to CORDUROY written and illustrated by Don Freeman. Still going strong 57 years later, this bear’s story covertly captures the general insecurities so often felt by young children as they evolve from toddlers into preschoolers. The story concludes with the strong message of acceptance that comes with true friendship. It’s easy to see why this book along with crib plushie of Corduroy with mismatched buttons has become a popular baby gift.
JAMBERRY, written by Bruce Degen and originally published in 1983, is as popular as ever. Starring a boy and a carefree, cheerful bear, rhythmic stanzas, and engaging illustrations, it is a joyful exploration of “all things berry” and is the perfect introduction of both bears and books to the youngest kid audience.
Borrowing from Aesop’s famous fable, TOPS AND BOTTOMS, written and illustrated by Janet Stevens and published in 1995, paints the bear as unmotivated while the hare is ambitious and clever. The illustrations of the bear are a blend between general fluffy, frumpiness and the irritated expression we imagine a wild, angry bear is capable of when aggravated and outwitted.
Only a few more titles (less than a dozen) finish out the 90s and compared to the explosion of bear books that have been published nearly every year after the century’s rollover, for anyone growing up in the prior decades, it confirms that we were living in a positive dearth.
Again, I ask: what is it with these bears? Why are they so popular? How have they become so popular? I think the reason bears make such fabulous protagonists is their natural ability to characterize a wide range of human qualities; mind you, this is not of their own doing. It is us who have anthropomorphized them. We’ve made them affectionate, dim-witted, wise, lovable, bumbling, friendly, kind, naïve, adorable, clumsy, foolish, grumpy, goofy, simple-minded – all human traits. And let’s face it, they have great physiques, especially when they’re standing on their hind quarters. Overwhelmingly, the depictions of them are humorous, and we love that. It endears them to us. Best of all, they’re cuddly (more than say - frogs), and we are a species that likes cuddle-ability! And although bunnies are terribly cute and cuddly and very lovable, they don’t quite capture our attention like bears do.
If real bears only knew how popular they’ve become and how much we adore them . . .
Find the crossword puzzle answers here, and let me know how you did!
