Bears... not those ones.
July 12, 2013 10:00 AM Subscribe
I would like help identifying a children's picture book about a family of bears who wear clothes and do human things. Basically all I remember about it is that they're NOT the Berenstein bears.
My great grandmother (who I named "Book Read Great Grandma") read books to me all the time when I was a kid (late 80s) and this book was my favorite, so I would like to buy a copy for my son. I don't remember any of the plot, unfortunately. I do remember that the book was paperback and rectangular, and oriented horizontally instead of vertically. I think the cover had a picture of the bear family with possibly a light blue border. I believe the illustrations were softly colored.
I know this is a long shot!
My great grandmother (who I named "Book Read Great Grandma") read books to me all the time when I was a kid (late 80s) and this book was my favorite, so I would like to buy a copy for my son. I don't remember any of the plot, unfortunately. I do remember that the book was paperback and rectangular, and oriented horizontally instead of vertically. I think the cover had a picture of the bear family with possibly a light blue border. I believe the illustrations were softly colored.
I know this is a long shot!
Little Bear meets all your qualifications except the horizontal orientation.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:02 AM on July 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:02 AM on July 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Possibly a variant of the Teddy Bear's Picnic? I think that's the edition we had, but it looks like it's a popular theme with a lot of different illustrators.
posted by jetlagaddict at 10:06 AM on July 12, 2013
posted by jetlagaddict at 10:06 AM on July 12, 2013
How about The Little Fur Family? (That edition doesn't have a blue border but it's an old, old book and maybe a previous edition did?)
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:08 AM on July 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:08 AM on July 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
My version of The Little Fur Family definitely had a light blue cover, but it was vertical not horizontal.
posted by jessamyn at 10:15 AM on July 12, 2013
posted by jessamyn at 10:15 AM on July 12, 2013
Response by poster: Nope :( It definitely wasn't a well-known story like Paddington Bear or The Teddy Bear's Picnic.
I think the bear family might have lived in a city and maybe gone shopping and/or ridden a city bus.
posted by Safiya at 10:21 AM on July 12, 2013
I think the bear family might have lived in a city and maybe gone shopping and/or ridden a city bus.
posted by Safiya at 10:21 AM on July 12, 2013
Richard Scarry? He had a lot of anthropomorphic animals.
The Francis Series?
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:28 AM on July 12, 2013
The Francis Series?
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:28 AM on July 12, 2013
Do you remember if it was classic or more modern? The Roosevelt Bears was a series from 1909 that has been reissued many times since.
posted by jessamyn at 10:33 AM on July 12, 2013
posted by jessamyn at 10:33 AM on July 12, 2013
Response by poster: I believe it was more modern, at least 1950s or later. I'm not sure if the book was part of a series or not. The artwork was more pastel/soft than anything linked so far. I think the bears were brown, and less anthropomorphic looking than most. The Roosevelt Bears gave me a brain tingle, so it's possible the title was something similar.
posted by Safiya at 10:43 AM on July 12, 2013
posted by Safiya at 10:43 AM on July 12, 2013
A few more bear books that seem to loosely fit your guidelines
Bearymore, One Bear Two Bear, The Brown Family, Bobby Bear and the Blizzard, Teddy Trucks, Bravo, Ernest and Celestine!
posted by jessamyn at 10:46 AM on July 12, 2013
Bearymore, One Bear Two Bear, The Brown Family, Bobby Bear and the Blizzard, Teddy Trucks, Bravo, Ernest and Celestine!
posted by jessamyn at 10:46 AM on July 12, 2013
I see that Ruthless Bunny beat me to this already, but I might take a closer look at the Frances books in the off chance you're misremembering some of the details. Frances and her family are badgers, but easily mistaken for bears. The interior artwork is generally much more softly colored than the covers.
posted by Diagonalize at 12:06 PM on July 12, 2013
posted by Diagonalize at 12:06 PM on July 12, 2013
Response by poster: They were definitely bears, and they all wore clothes.
posted by Safiya at 12:10 PM on July 12, 2013
posted by Safiya at 12:10 PM on July 12, 2013
The Bears' Bazaar? Clothes and Pastel-ish but not horizontal orientation, at least not the UK edition I remember from my childhood...
posted by protorp at 12:18 PM on July 12, 2013
posted by protorp at 12:18 PM on July 12, 2013
Wild shot: The Lonely Doll Learns a Lesson? It has a blue border, and is about Edith the doll, who lives with the Bear Family.
It is a sequel to The Lonely Doll, (pink border) which is one of the best children's books ever.
IMHO.
posted by SLC Mom at 2:27 PM on July 12, 2013
It is a sequel to The Lonely Doll, (pink border) which is one of the best children's books ever.
IMHO.
posted by SLC Mom at 2:27 PM on July 12, 2013
Best answer: The Forgetful Bears? (My sister gets the credit for remembering this one! She is less of a forgetful bear than I am.)
posted by heliotrope at 7:25 PM on July 26, 2013
posted by heliotrope at 7:25 PM on July 26, 2013
Response by poster: Oh my gosh heliotrope, that's it! I knew it as soon as I saw the cover picture. Thank you!!! Now I need to read it to see if any of my recollections are accurate.
posted by Safiya at 10:50 AM on July 30, 2013
posted by Safiya at 10:50 AM on July 30, 2013
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posted by NoDef at 10:02 AM on July 12, 2013