Like Sitting on a Cloud and Flying: Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik

Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik

Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik

Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik. 1957.

Four easy-to-read chapters with engaging pen and ink illustrations (Sendak). Each story uses carefully controlled and repeated vocabulary; many have surprise twists at the end. And as with most books, this one engages the child’s world with tenderness and respect. The importance of a child’s birthday, the tenderness of the mother-child relationship. Adventures are kept small and non-threatening (a very little tree on a little hill), within reach without fear. And the final chapter reviews all the stories to aid in retention and reader participation.

Aside: I didn’t care for Mother telling Little Bear that his wishes were unattainable, but who am I? Just a mom of three getting a graduate degree, which is only a little like sitting on a cloud and flying.

Rebecca Grabill

Rebecca has been writing since childhood, her first book about a kitten published between homemade cardboard covers in second grade. Although she studied religion and philosophy in university, she continued writing, earning an MFA from Hamline University and publishing multiple picture books (no longer with homemade covers) and a collection of poetry with a variety of New York and independent publishers. She has also published a wide array of fiction, essays, and poetry in magazines and journals and photographs for Getty Images. She balances writing with homeschooling the younger of her six children, launching her young adults, church activities, and overseeing a small flock of chickens in rural West Michigan.

www.rebeccagrabill.com
Previous
Previous

Another Take on Princesses: Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Next
Next

A Happy Little Book about Death: Bodies From the Ash