10 Years of Beloved Books
Little Bear's Visit Book Cover
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Little Bear's Visit Book Cover

Ratings & Reviews for

Little Bear's Visit

Else Holmelund Minarik, Maurice Sendak (Illustrator)

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5 stars
5,023 (53%)
4 stars
2,452 (26%)
3 stars
1,543 (16%)
2 stars
259 (2%)
1 star
74 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
Profile Image for SoRoLi (Sonja) ♡ .
SoRoLi (Sonja) ♡
3,954 reviews557 followers
July 26, 2023
Der kleine Bär freut sich, seine Großeltern besuchen zu können. Oma und Opa Bär erzählen immer so schöne Geschichten!
Dieses Kinderbuch hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Die Geschichte vom kleinen Bären ist zuckersüß und zauberhaft und dabei wunderbar illustriert. Die Farben sind eher gedeckt, nicht knallig, was einen ganz eigenen Charme hat. Ich mag das Buch gerade deshalb, weil es sich von den "modernen" Kinderbüchern abhebt.
Ideal für Erstleser und auch zum Vorlesen gut geeignet!
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Calista
4,851 reviews31.3k followers
July 2, 2018
There is something so special about this book for me, I'm not sure exactly what it is. I love the art. It is so precious and it highlights the bond between grandparent and grandchild. This book took me back to my childhood with my grandparents.

The story is about the simple joys of being with your grandparents who are different than your parents. It was so lovely. I haven't read this and it now has a special place in my heart. Maurice did a great job on the art and Else has a wonderful story.

The kids both enjoyed this story too. Not like me, but even my niece read it. Good stuff.
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Zoë
328 reviews64.7k followers
Read
March 6, 2021
[Book #29 for my grad school Children's Lit class]
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Katja Labonté
Author 30 books264 followers
April 23, 2024
3.70 stars (4/10 hearts). Okay but this book is just SWEET. Little Bear and his grandparents are darling. Grandfather Bear & Grandmother Bear are the perfect old couple and remind me of my great-grandparents. I ADORE Grandmother’s green dress & apron (and Mother Bear’s dress, too!!) and the house is lovely… and I love the old-timey setting… and the goblin story is so funny and cute, and the robin story is delightful… Yeah, this is probably my favourite Little Bear story collection. :)
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Abigail
7,535 reviews233 followers
January 16, 2020
Little Bear spends some time with his grandparents in this fourth early-reader from author Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrator Maurice Sendak, enjoying everything about his visit, from the games he plays to the stories he hears. In Grandmother and Grandfather Bear, the first of four brief stories or chapters, he devours Grandmother Bear's delicious treats, and wears Grandfather Bear out with his play. Mother Bear's Robin features a story within a story, as Little Bear asks for and listens to a tale from his own mother's girlhood, when she briefly adopted a lost Robin. Goblin Story is another story within a story, this time related by Grandfather Bear, who spins the spooky tale of a little goblin who finds himself pursued by...something. Finally, Not Tired sees our little ursine hero waiting for his parents to come pick him up after his visit, insisting - even as he is falling asleep - that he is not tired.

I loved all five of the Little Bear books as a young girl, but Little Bear's Visit was a particular favorite! With a text that captures all the warmth of family love - Grandmother and Grandfather Bear are affectionate and wise, clearly understanding their Little Bear's needs and desires - and beautifully expressive artwork that is truly deserving of the Caldecott Honor it received, this is a truly brilliant little book. Rereading it as an adult, I was struck by some of the details - Little Bear informing his grandfather that he had been warned not to tire him out, and being told in return that Grandfathers don't get tired; Grandmother Bear and Little Bear complimenting one another on their skipping skills; Grandfather Bear telling Little Bear that it is OK to hold his paw while listening to a frightening story, because he (Grandfather) might be frightened - that make this story so rich, despite its textual simplicity.

Little Bear's Visit is, together with its companion volumes, one of the truly great contributions to children's literature - one I highly recommended to all young beginning readers, as well as to fans of Maurice Sendak's artwork.
Profile Image for Saskia Wong-Smith.
Saskia Wong-Smith
10 reviews
December 29, 2012
This book is the first book I ever read and finished. Little Bear's Visit is a wonderful story about a bear visiting his grandparents. Little Bear uses his curiosity to learn about all of his grandparents old artifacts. Little Bears is told a story from is Grandmother, a wonderful story about adventure and care for others. This book is a wonderful simple read and is perfect for a stroll down memory lane.
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Natalia Pinto Gatica
249 reviews38 followers
March 11, 2019
La visita de Osito es un libro clásico de la literatura infantil, por lo menos yo lo tuve que leer en segundo básico y siempre esa primera lectura la recuerdo con mucho cariño.


Uno de mis placeres culpable son la lectura de libros infantiles y otro son los osos; de muy pequeña he amado estos animales, así que imagínense cuantos peluches de Osos tengo jajajaja.


Bueno, por ende, también colecciono libros de estos animales que me parecen tan tiernos, pero a la vez tan salvajes.


Luego de esta pequeña introducción personal, vamos a lo que nos convoca. Este libro titulado “La visita de Osito” nos cuenta la historia de un pequeño Osito que va de visita a la casa de sus abuelos, a el le encanta ir y regalonear con ellos, ya que le cuentan cuentos, le preparan una rica comida y lo llenan de abrazos y besos.


Osito es un pequeño muy inteligente, educado, y con un corazón muy bondadoso, que ama a su familia y quiere pasar tiempo con ellos. Por otro lado, los abuelos son muy felices cuando su nieto los va a ver ya que disfrutan de su juventud y sus travesuras.


Sus abuelos le cuentan historias de su madre cuando era pequeña y les dejan una pequeña enseñanza para que el piense sobe ello y se convierta en un buen oso.


Claramente es una historia hermosa que les enseña a los más pequeños a valorar, a cuidar y a pasar tiempo con sus seres queridos, sobre todo con estas personas tan maravillosas que son los abuelos. A pesar de que este libro fue publicado por primera vez en 1960 creo que tiene unas pautas de crianza totalmente vigentes, pero que claramente ya no se suelen utilizan con frecuencia. Son pocos los padres que inculcan a sus hijos/as que respeten, cuiden y acompañen a sus abuelos y creo que una manera de poder enseñarles es a través de este tipo de lecturas que vienen acompañadas con ilustraciones que ayudan a los niños/as a imaginar lo que leen.


En fin, a pesar de que sea una lectura infantil, creo que es necesario que los adultos también aprovechemos de disfrutar estos libros que nos dejan bellas enseñanzas que posteriormente podemos trasmitir a los más pequeños.


Lectura imprescindible que nos lleva a reflexionar acerca de la familia, el amor y el valor de las cosas.
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Joan
2,257 reviews
November 30, 2022
This is the best of the three story collections in here! Little Bear visited his grandparents and had a wonderful time listening to stories and playing with his grandparents! No wonder Sendak won a Caldecott Honors award for this book! The illustrations and text are gentle with humorous touches scattered throughout!
Madison Godfrey
50 reviews
April 30, 2014
This book is about a young boy named little Bear. He visits his grandmother and grandfather house for their cooking. This is a series about little bears adventures. This is a good book to have in a classroom because there are a lot of them and children can relate to them, these are good for practicing reading. I absolutely loved the Little Bear books when I was growing up. There was something about Little Bear that was very homely and nurturing. I think because most of the books are about him finding his way through growing up and figuring out how to do things right after you've made a mistake or done something wrong. These are very important books because they are all about lesson learning and what you can take away from it all.
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Stefanie Burns
791 reviews3 followers
February 3, 2017
Beginning reader that has good use of white space and spacing between words to support beginning readers. The illustrations clearly match the words. The book is 64 pages long, but pages vary between a lot and a little text. Children will be impressed they read such a long book. The book is a little dated, yet I still have students requesting Little Bear books.
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Honore
288 reviews15 followers
March 5, 2021
If you're a Grandparent looking to buy a present for a new reader, this is the book! If you haven't guessed who Little Bear is visiting, it's his Grandparents! The dual illustrations of him sitting on each of their laps as he says, " Do you know what? I like it here", had me mesmerized. Sendak had a really talent for capturing the essence of children and the little nuances of their movements, so the way his eyes tip up at them as he hugs them totally sent my heart. Loved it (but then again, I seem to love all of Sendak's works)!
Profile Image for Glasdow Teacosy.
Glasdow Teacosy
Author 2 books21 followers
August 11, 2015
This volume in the Little Bear series is perhaps the most dear, the most nostalgic, and the most dull. By this I mean it wasn't nearly as creative for me as the other volumes. It was full of charm, but not as clever. However, that's only comparitively. It is still an excellent book and a favorite of mine.

The first story was filled with traditional grandparent-style behavior with Grandfather Bear being the comic relief. The second story about Little Bear's mother and her bird was sweet, but a bit saccharine for me. As a child, I remember skipping over it. That may be because I found the story tedious, but it was more likely I was racing ahead to "Goblin Story", the only imaginitive & fanciful tale in the book. The last story is sure to bring a chorus of "Aww"s to most readers, as Little Bear fights sleep because he's not really tired.

Certainly, there were moments that stood out for me. The illustration skill was quite remarkable. Unlike the other books in the series, there were no lavish backgrounds and settings. There was just page after page of sumptuously rendered, Victorian outfits, as well as animated faces that made the bears more human than some people I've worked with. Grandfather doing a jig was a highlight for me as a child and an adult. Also, I still enjoy the mock look of worry on the Grandfather's face just before he begins to regale Little Bear with goblin story. The color palette was still limited to three spot colors (Brown, black & green), despite the wonderful rainbow available to printers in 1961. This limited palette, along with Sendak's gorgeous hatchwork, helped the story feel very old-fashioned. As a child, I felt these books were ancient, despite them being only a few years older than me.

Overall, Little Bear's Visit is a charming collection of tales very well suited for bedtime. It might be a bit mundane for my expectations, but I know that all my daughters enjoyed the book, so perhaps my opinion is in the minority. Besides, cynical, gruff Daddies weren't Minarik & Sendak's intended audience.
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Ashley Steele
32 reviews
Read
December 1, 2015
This book is about a bear named "little bear" and he goes to spend the day with his grandparents. He got to look around the house and explore. He was excited to spend time with his grandfather but after being awake for a while, grandfather feel asleep. Little bear didnt want to wake grandfather so, he went outside to visit with his grandmother. She told him a story about a bird that turned out to be one her life long friends. Grandfather woke up after the story, then he told Little bear a silly story about a gnome and his shoes. Momma and Papa Bear came to pick up Little bear and on the way out the door little bear had so much fun that he feel asleep!

I thought this book was really cute! I really enjoyed the two extra stories inside that Little Bears grandparents told him. The pictures in the book are dated but they are very easy to describe the characters and very descriptive. I would recommend this book to a third grader.
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Madison Miller
49 reviews11 followers
November 19, 2017
Sendak is the illustrator in this novel, and the illustrations are all at the top of the page. There is limited use of color, and hand drawn illustrations that are very realistic with lots of expression matching the text. This book is about a loveable little bear that goes on many adventures, with his grandmother bear helping him along the way. Little bear visits his grandmother and grandfather house for their cooking, and learns all about their history and old artifacts. Little bear is very curious, and has much to learn about his grandmother and grandfather during this story. This book would be a great book in the classroom because most children can relate to the lessons and situations that little bear gets himself into. Another reason why this book would be great in a classroom because little bear learns lots of lessons from the mistakes he makes, and can teach young children those same lessons.
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Katie Fitzgerald
Author 12 books233 followers
October 5, 2017
This is one of the Little Bear books I had never really heard about until I noticed it on the list for this challenge. Interestingly, based on my memory of other books in the series, including Little Bear itself, this one is quite different. It seems much more old-fashioned than the other titles, and somewhat more disconnected. Most of the other books focus on Little Bear’s own adventures, but this one delves more into his grandparents’ stories about his mother when she was a girl, and an entirely made-up story about a goblin. Naturally, Sendak excels at depicting the world of a goblin, but in this book he is also surprisingly adept at normal, nearly human facial expressions, which so richly depict the tone and humor of each bear in the family. This isn’t my favorite of the Little Bear books, textually, but its illustrations are definitely something special.
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Drew Graham
1,071 reviews40 followers
February 17, 2016
Little Bear loves visiting his grandparents. He enjoys Grandmother Bear's cooking and looks forward to Grandfather Bear's antics and stories, but he never tires out even after a long and interesting visit.

I've known and enjoyed Little Bear since I was a tot, and it's nice that The Boy (2.5) is quite taken with his stories -- maybe a little bit too taken with them, based on requests for rapidly repeated readings. There are some kind of odd things about this world that Little Bear inhabits (why do the grownup bears dress in such period finery while LB runs about in naught but fur?), but the illustrations are charming and nostalgic and it just sort of works. We're definitely going to have to introduce some other Little Bear selections to avoid fatigue for this one.
Profile Image for Crista Goluch.
Crista Goluch
205 reviews
January 26, 2011
1962 Caldecott Honor Book
This is a Caldecott winning book that is formatted as a chapter book. Here the illustrator uses what looks like pencil drawings that he then highlights certain parts with colored pencils. The size of the illustration varies from a single image to a detailed two page spread that encompasses three quarters of the space. He brings continuity to the illustrations by adding a subtle, yet decorative, border around each page. The outlines in the gutter get lost, but with the details of the border’s corners, you don’t notice it. One interesting aspect of the illustrations, that my daughter noticed, is that Little Bear has no clothes and the adults around him do.
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Jen Kahl
36 reviews
June 29, 2013
This is a wonderful starter for children who are beginning to read chapter books. A Caldecott Honor Book, it is about a Little Bear visiting his grandparents. When his grandfather falls asleep after a day of fun, Little Bear sits with his grandmother to hear a story about his mother (which is the next chapter, and it's a nice story). When his grandfather awakes, he tells Little Bear a story as well (the next chapter). Then Little Bear falls asleep while waiting for his parents to come. This story is cute, simple, but in my opinion, would keep a child's interest. The illustrations are very neutral in color, kind of nostalgic. I would definitely put this in my classroom collection.
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Laura
1,641 reviews80 followers
November 26, 2008
I enjoyed reading this book, I liked the interaction between little bear and grandfather and grandmother bear, it made me smile, because they did all the sorts of things that grandparents do. The pictures for this book were really quite sweet, even if it does strike you a little odd that the bears are dressed up in old-fashioned clothes and wearing spectacles. I'd recommend this book.

*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2008...
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Friend of Pixie
611 reviews26 followers
May 9, 2015
My son has a very close relationship with this grandparents and I think he loved seeing that same kind of love between Little Bear and his grandparents. As with the first Little Bear book, I find the adult bears really funny and I love Minarik's realistic dialog. Because my son was only 3 when we first read this, and easily scared, I had to be careful how I read the story that Little Bear's grandfather tells him. But after he heard it several times and knew that everything was going to work out fine, he loved having a suspenseful little shiver over it in the safety of my lap.
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Angie
2,849 reviews13 followers
August 14, 2014
Synopsis: "Little Bear likes to visit Grandmother and Grandfather Bear. He likes Grandfather's hat and Grandmother's cooking. But most of all, he loves to listen to their stories."

My Review: Okay so I know I said the last book was the best in the series but I need to amend that and say this was the best in the series. I loved that Grandmother Bear and Grandfather Bear played along with Little Bear and made everything fun during his visit. As it should be when visiting grandparents. I think Munchkin is really going to enjoy this story.
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Maria Rowe
1,003 reviews12 followers
November 25, 2017
• 1962 Caldecott Honor Book •

This is such a cozy, sweet little book! I love the story of the little bear visiting his grandparents, and the drawings by Maurice Sendak are great as usual. The coloring is a little weird - it’s brown and really bright green and the texture looks like crayon which is so strange - I think I would have preferred this with no color at all instead. But the story is really adorable, and I’d highly recommend this one! Very cute, and I’m happy I ran across it.

Materials used: unlisted
Typeface used: unlisted
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Luann
1,288 reviews119 followers
February 24, 2009
What a sweet little story about Little Bear's visit to his grandparents. I especially liked the story his grandfather told him about the goblin. I'm not sure why this book won a Caldecott Honor, though. Maybe I'm just so used to Sendak's illustrations that I don't see anything extraordinary in them. One interesting thing is that the grandparents (who are also bears) are wearing clothes, while Little Bear isn't.
Jane
585 reviews10 followers
September 21, 2009
A perfect book to share with a 5-going-on-6 year old. The dedication reads "To all Grandparents and all Grandchildren." but even parents might enjoy this one. One story is titled "Mother Bear's Robin." I told Brenna that the Robin reminded me of her Daddy, and the Robin's child reminded me of her. "Read the next story," Brenna replied. See, we both enjoyed this one! The illustrations by Maurice Sendak are great, too.
Michelle
46 reviews
February 17, 2013
Illustrated by Maurice Sendak. This is an "I Can Read book" and is a Caldecott Honor book. According to the inside cover, this book has "more challenging chapters for the fully independent reader." I feel this book should be catergorized as a level three book. Most line lengths are 6 words and most pages only have 6 lines per page with the occasional page with 10-14 lines. It is a cute story that will keep readers entertained.
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Jenny
3,064 reviews36 followers
February 16, 2015
A lovely story of Little Bear and his visit with Grandmother and Grandfather. I remember reading the Little Bear books with my own grandma as a little girl, and as 3/4 of my grandparents have now passed away in the past few years, this felt especially touching to me. I have so many fond memories of visits with my grandparents, activities I did with them, and the love we shared. Both the illustrations and story are wonderful.
Kathy
136 reviews
February 1, 2010
Pictures by Maurice Sendak. Little Bear visits his grandparents, his grandpa plays with him and Grandmother tells him the story of Mother Bear's Robin and Grandfather tells him the story of the Goblin who got scared and jumped out of his shoes. Several other Little Bear books available. For Beginning readers, the "I can read books" Harper Collins.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews

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