Like many other writers for young children, Minarik believed that universal appeal was more important than realism. The editor liked it but would consider accepting it only if the bears were replaced with children. With its short words, clear storylines and simple structure, the first Little Bear book, comprising four tales, was ideal.īolstered by its popularity with her pupils, and confident about its concept and execution, Minarik took the book to a publisher in New York. Minarik had realised that, for the holidays, the children needed something offering more life and emotion than the popular reading primers, with their predictable and colourless stories. It was more widely circulated when, as a junior school teacher in Long Island, New York, she made copies for her pupils. She married Walter Minarik and wrote and illustrated the first Little Bear story for their daughter, Brooke, to read before she went to school.

'Little Bear is me in Denmark, where I was cuddled and loved,' she said.

When she came to write stories for very young children, she drew on her memories of her mother reading Hans Christian Andersen to her. She was born in Denmark and moved to the US with her parents at the age of four. In 2010, two years before her death, Minarik published a sixth book, Little Bear and the Marco Polo, which was illustrated by Dorothy Doubleday.Else Holmelund Minarik was urged to replace the bears with children The five original Little Bear books were illustrated by Maurice Sendak. The series was animated by Canadian studio Nelvana and starred Kristin Fairlie as the voice of Little Bear. This series of books went on to spawn a TV series, Little Bear, including specials and a full-length direct-to-video release, the movie entitled The Little Bear Movie.

Little Bear is depicted as friendly and adventurous with his animal friends. They live in a culture and technology which seems to be the woodland version of a Little House on the Prairie setting, but with wealthier items. The Little Bear character and his immediate family display many bear-like characteristics and mannerisms, but only on occasion. The first four Little Bear books consist of four stories, each of which involves Little Bear and a slowly expanding cast of support characters, each named after their respective species. Originally, the stories were simple, but eventually became more sophisticated in subsequent books as the plot and characters expanded. Little Bear is a series of children's books, primarily involving the interaction of Little Bear (an anthropomorphic cub) and Mother Bear (his mother), written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik