BOOKS

This month we want to start at the beginning of a reader's experience. Stan and Jan were among the first authors to write a book for the legendary "Bright and Early" line of books. Bright and Early books help even the youngest children get ready to read. Simple stories and basic concepts are humorously presented in rhythm and rhyme. Pictures that fully explain the text help even babies make the important connection between word and meaning. The Bears were a natural fit, although at first it seemed as though their particpation would be limited.

Inside, Outside, Upside Down

Brother Bear gets into a box. Papa Bear turns the box upside down, takes it outside, and puts it on a truck. The simple art and rhyming text make this a perfect choice for teaching spatial concepts. This delightful classic makes a great first book for a child who is ready to read to him/herself. Its rhythmic rhymes and colorful pictures provide plenty to keep the young reader from losing interest from beginning to end. Its also an excellent book to read to very young children. You may hear them reciting the catchy rhymes to themselves.

Bear on Wheels

in Bears on Wheels, early readers begin to relate words to pictures while learning about numbers and counting. As the gradually increasing number of bears on wheels adds up through all kinds of combinations and permutations, beginning readers are offered a unique counting book.

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Old Hat, New Hat

Out shopping, Brother Bear looks at frilly and silly hats, bumpy and lumpy ones. the story offers slapstick humor and simple concepts of sizes and shape. Each new hat is rejected as "too tall, too flat", "too heavy, too light" with pictures of the unacceptable hats that are absolutely right for a child's humor.

Bears in The Night 

The Bears' adventures take them in, out, around, and about. The pictures tell the story here, captioned by a series of simple phrases that follow seven little bears "out of bed, . . . out the window, . . . through the woods, . . . up Spook Hill" (where they are chased away by a menacing owl), then "down Spook Hill, through the woods" and so on until they are "back in bed" (while a mother bear, glimpsed through the window, sits sewing oblivious to the activity).

He Bear, She Bear 

"We'll jump and dig and build and fly
There's nothing that we cannot try.
We can do all these things, you see,
Whether we are he or she!"

A young he bear and she bear discover they can do anything and be anything they want to--regardless of gender--in this empowering and fun, fast paced Bright & Early Book!

The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree 

An exciting story of three young bears who decide to explore a scary tree with a stick, a light and a rope. During their adventure they come across a giant key, narrowly escape a falling ax, and run across a great sleeping bear. This easy reader has illustratiions that a child can relate to and a sing song rhyme that is catchy to the young ear. This story is an enjoyable read that will grab and hold the reader's attention from the very beginning.

Don't forget the Berenstains' A, B, and C books

LEARN ABOUT OTHER BERENSTAIN BEARS BOOKS!

Every month we highlight a collection of books gathered by theme.

There are holiday books, vacation books, books about food, sports, and parents.

See our always expanding list of related books from our bookshelf.