Janice (1)Reseñas

Little Bear and his friends—Squeaky the mouse, Owl, Squirrel and Sparrow—are enjoying their Christmas gifts in this vintage picture-book from 1973, when the subject of New Year's comes up. Normally in hibernation at this time of year, Little Bear had never experienced a New Year's party, and nor had his friends. After a few unsuccessful attempts to wrangle an invite to such a celebration, Little Bear decides to throw his own. But what will happen when more guests than are expected show up...?

Although it is the seventh and final picture-book from author Janice (Janice Brustlein) and illustrator Mariana (Marian Foster Curtiss) to chronicle the holiday celebrations of the eponymous ursine hero, Little Bear's New Year's Party is only the third title in the series that I have read, following upon Little Bear's Christmas and Little Bear's Thanksgiving. It seems to open directly after the former, despite being published a number of years later, and is characterized by the same gentle storytelling and sweet illustrations. It is a little text-heavy for a contemporary picture-book, but young listeners with a good attention span, and a fondness for animal stories, will undoubtedly find it enjoyable.

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Little Bear, whose adventures began in the eponymous Little Bear's Sunday Breakfast and Little Bear's Pancake Party, returns in this third picture-book from author Janice and illustrator Mariana. When our little ursine hero wakes up in the middle of the winter and learns about Christmas for the first time, he writes to Santa asking for some. Wise in his ways, Santa determines that the best way to give Little Bear some Christmas is to have him become a Santa's helper for the night. After aiding in giving out gifts to others, Little Bear returns home to find his friends gathered for a splendid holiday party of their own...

Although it is normally my practice to read picture-book series in order of publication, I don't seem to be doing so with these books. Little Bear's Christmas is only the second that I have read, following upon the subsequent Little Bear's Thanksgiving. It is a sweet story, one that put me in mind of the more recent Waiting for Santa, which also features a bear who gets to help Santa deliver his presents. All in all, I prefer this book to that more recently published one, enjoying the gentle, heartwarming story and the cute illustrations. Little Bear looks quite happy, playing Santa! Recommended to vintage picture-book lovers in the market for holiday tales.

Little Bear is excited to receive an invitation to Thanksgiving dinner from his human friend Goldie in this sweet holiday picture-book, first published in 1967. Once his animals friends - Squirrel, Sparrow, Owl, and Squeaky the Mouse - explain what Thanksgiving is, our ursine hero is ready to go. Then he discovers that the holiday occurs in late autumn, and he is dismayed - how will he ever stay up, in order to attend? Fortunately, his friends are more than willing to help him out, ensuring that he is awake on the important day...

One of seven picture-book from author Janice and illustrator Mariana devoted to the adventures of this ursine character, Little Bear's Thanksgiving pairs a gentle narrative with cute artwork. I was already familiar with the work of illustrator Mariana (full name: Marian Foster Curtiss), having read a few of her Miss Flora McFlimsey picture-books, so I picked this up from my library's Thanksgiving display with a sense of anticipation. I found the narrative engaging, and occasionally quite amusing. The fact that a whisper of "pumpkin pie" managed to bring Little Bear awake, for instance, had me chuckling. The artwork was cute, although I think I prefer Marian's depiction of the animals, compared to that of Goldie. I don't know that I enjoyed this one quite as much as the Miss Flora McFlimsey books, but it was sweet enough that I would probably read another in the series, if I happened upon it. Perhaps Little Bear's Christmas? Recommended to anyone looking for gentle, warmhearted animal stories set at Thanksgiving.

I liked this book for a few reasons. For one, I liked the illustrations because they supported the text. For example, the pictures that were in black and white where on pages that contained text like, “no one has ever invited me either.” By having a black and white illustration support this part of the text symbolizes sadness. On the other hand, the pages that contain text about parties have colored illustrations to symbolize excitement. Also, I liked the characters in the story because they were different animals. I like that different animals could come together in a story and celebrate. This helps to show acceptance of others who may be from different areas or backgrounds. I think that by exemplifying acceptance in children’s books can help children to accept others who are different from them. The big message of Little Bear’s New Year’s Party is that it is not fun to be exclusive and that it is nice to invite everybody. In the story, Little Bear was not invited to a New Year’s party and decided to make his own. He was sure to invite everyone because he did not like when he was not invited. In the end, Little Bear and everybody had fun.

I liked this book for a few reasons. First, I enjoyed the characters of the story. Little Bear is a classic character that people at any age can enjoy. He has realistic feelings and reactions that we can connect to. For instance, after the mayor lied to Little Bear, he became suspicious when the promise to be in the parade was offered a second time. I think most of us would also be second guessing the promise. I also liked the story line itself. The magic umbrella is not a common problem that could happen in real life. Lastly, I liked the illustrations that went along with the story. They were simple, yet effective. The only colors used were gray and green. The green was able to pop out more and represent the holiday that took place in the story. The simpleness of it did not distract the reader, but it did enhance the story.

The main idea of this book is that helping people can make others happy.½

This book about watchdogs is not well written or well illustrated but the story is generally a good one. I found the pets to be charming as they were friendly and stopped a burglar from breaking into the house. I did find the language used in this book dull and the illustrations were dull as well. This book would not meet my top 10 criteria.½

Little Bear and the animals of the forest invite each other to a new year's eve party.½

A funny book about Mr. and Mrs. Button's search for a watchdog. The Buttons face difficult obstacles when everytime they find a dog, the dog does everything else but his job. A comical book about contentment, love, humor, and aggrivation.