Over the past 45 years, the Berenstain Bears have become one of the most
famous families in children's literature, spawning television shows,
computer games, even their own section at Cedar Point. For years, their
books have served as models for decent decorum as Brother and Sister
Bear get themselves into some sort of trouble and Mama Bear tries to
help them see the error of their ways while Papa Bear usually falls into
the same traps as his cubs. Written in prose except for a verse at the
beginning that serves as a preview, these stories are entertaining but
also heavy-handedly moral.
The earliest of Stan and Jan
Berenstain's books aren't like this. Part of Dr. Seuss's series of
Beginner Books, they are written entirely in verse, the illustrative
style is sketchier and uses a duller palette of colors, and as Sister
Bear hasn't been born yet, Brother is instead Small Bear. Rather than
being small paperbacks of roughly Little Golden Book size, these are
hardbacks comparable in length to any Seuss book, and most focus on Papa
Bear's inept attempts to teach his son a great lesson.
The Big Honey Hunt is the first of these, and as in The Bears' Picnic and The Bears' Vacation,
among others, Small Bear is eager to absorb any wisdom his father has
to pass on. It is especially similar to the former, as it revolves
around a quest to fill their honey pot that takes them into one
dangerous situation after another. Papa Bear won't settle for any old
ordinary store honey when he can show his son how a real bear gets the
job done. It all begins with finding a bee; once he's managed that, he's
on his way, ready to embrace the bumpy course the insect sets while
believing that each latest stop on the journey must be where the honey is.
The illustrations are entertaining as Papa, clad in blue overalls and a
red checkered shirt, and Small Bear, in jeans and a solid red shirt,
race from one potential honey tree to the next, eager to extract the
golden treasure but unnerved by the dangers that lurk nearby. We get to
see Papa go from smug to panicked in the course of a page; Small Bear's
confidence wavers just a little after such episodes, but his faith in
his father remains intact.
The verses are very simple to read,
marked by small words and exact rhymes with a pleasing rhythm: "If you
want to get honey, / There is just one way. / You must follow your bee /
If it takes all day." The repetition of finding what appears to be the
perfect honey tree and discovering that it's not so great after all adds
to the fun.
Beginning readers should find a lot to like about The Big Honey Hunt; if they're like me, they'll still be engrossed 20 years later.
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