Early Reader Review: Little Bear, by Else Homelund Minarik

Bibliographic Information:
Minarik, Else Homelund. Little Bear. New York: HarperCollins, 1957.  Illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

ISBN-13: 978-0064440042

Summary:
Little Bear, written by Else Homelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, is one of the classics of the Early Reader genre. In this set of four related short stories, Little Bear prepares to play in the snow, makes "birthday soup", tries to visit the moon, and asks his mother to tell him a bedtime story. Sendak's classic illustrations flow well with the text and help to illustrate why the Little Bear stories have endured through the decades.

Audience:
Grades K-3

Strengths:
Print is large, with plenty of space between sentences
Illustrations and words work well together to give context clues
Lots of repetition of key words
Uses short words and sentences
Each sentence starts on a new line

Weaknesses:
May be a bit slow or dated for modern children
Four separate stories may be confusing, especially when Little Bear's friends only show up in the second story and never before or after

Uses:
This early reader can be used for children to learn new words and get practice in seeing them multiple times.  Relatedly, early readers are good for learning how to read in general, as the repetition, use of short words and amount of white space makes it easy for children to focus on just the words and understand what's going on.  This is aided by having pictures on every page that illustrate what is happening in the written section, so that the words and pictures work together to help children understand what is going on on the page.

Read-alikes:
Lobel, Arnold. Frog & Toad are Friends. New York: Harper & Row, 1970.
Minarik, Else Homelund. Father Bear Comes Home. New York: HarperCollins, 1959.
Minarik, Else Homelund. Little Bear's Friend. New York: HarperCollins, 1960.
Minarik, Else Homelund. Little Bear's Visit. New York: HarperCollins,1961.
Minarik, Else Homelund. A Kiss for Little Bear. New York: HarperCollins, 1968.

Awards:
ALA Notable Children's Book