Writing about a LITTLE BEAR

Else Minarik, a former newspaper reporter and first-grade teacher on Long Island, N.Y., wrote Little Bear as a reaction against the stale “Dick and Jane” books of the 1940s.

“I had originally written the books illustrated with my own drawings for my daughter, Brooke, who wanted to learn to read at an early age,” she said.

Later, she mimeographed copies for her students (also beginning readers), with her own illustrations.

Born in Denmark on Sept. 13, 1920, Minarik immigrated with her family to the United States when she was 4 years old. “Little Bear was me in Denmark. I was cuddled and loved,” she recalled.

Hans Christian Andersen (read to her by her mother) was an early influence — and so too, according to Minarik, were childhood trips to the zoo...

When Else Minarik took her Little Bear manuscript to Random House, an editor told her that perhaps if she changed the characters to children, the publisher would consider it. 

“I thought to myself, all children of all colors 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.” 

The editors at what was then Harper & Row agreed with Minarik, and used Little Bear as the debut title in their long-running “I Can Read!” series for beginning readers.

Little Bear appeared in 1957 with illustrations by Maurice Sendak (who dressed the bears in Victorian finery.) This Little Bear is a charming cub with good intentions that are sometimes marred by his lack of experience and clumsiness. 

He resembles most preschool children: his world is innocent, close and secure, with Mother Bear at its center. Father Bear appears, but only from time to time, and is clearly of less importance.

In the simply written, yet thoughtful stories - which include real and imaginary situations - Minarik conveyed key characteristics of all young children's lives: the need for both safety and independence, imagination and play, and the importance of family and of making friends.

The Little Bear books belong to some of my earliest memories of childhood reading.  We lived in a Victorian farmhouse at the time, with a parlor and an attic - and my mom had a sewing machine like Little Bear's mother!  I remember wondering, like Little Bear, what it would be like to go try to go the moon.  And my dad travelled quite a bit when I was young, so I could identify with that part of Little Bear's story too.  

I think Maurice Sendak's rich Victorian illustrations were the perfect pairing with Minarik's simple prose. It's quite ironic that we lost them both last year:  Mr. Sendak on May 8, 2012, at the age of 83, and Else Holmelund Minarik at the age of 91, on July 12, 2012.

{All quotes taken from an article by Star-News Correspondent MJ Engle - source}