Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Bayport Public Library | EASY MIN | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Lake Elmo Library | EASY MIN | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Oakdale Library | EASY MIN | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove) | EASY MIN | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | EASY MIN | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Valley Library (Lakeland) | EASY MIN | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Wildwood Library (Mahtomedi) | PICTURE BOOK MIN | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
" Who Is Little Bear's Secret Valentine? "Oh, look, Mother Bear! A valentine for me! A beautiful valentine!" Little Bear opened the card -- but there was no name inside. Who could have sent it? Mother Bear said, "You have a secret admirer!" This new tale -- written by Little Bear's creator, Else Holmelund Minarik, and with full-color illustrations by Heather Green -- will bring readers into the charmed world of Little Bear, complete with good friends Hen, Emily, Owl, and Duck, and Little Bear's loving family. Join the star of the hit animated TV series in a classic Valentine's Day story about the importance of friendship, not only on February fourteenth but all year round.
Author Notes
Else Holmelund Minarik was born in Denmark on September 13, 1920. When she was four years old, she immigrated to the United States with her family. She received a B.A. from Queens College in 1942. She worked as reporter for the Daily Sentinel before becoming a first grade teacher and recognized the need for children's books with simple words. Her first book, Little Bear, was published in 1957 with illustrations by Maurice Sendak. She wrote over 40 children's books during her lifetime including No Fighting, No Biting!, Little Bear's Visit, The Little Giant Girl and the Elf Boy, A Kiss for Little Bear, Percy and the Five Houses, and Little Bear and the Marco Polo. She died of complications from a recent heart attack on July 12, 2012 at the age of 91.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-This story is based on a television series, which in turn was based upon a series of books written by Minarik and illustrated by Sendak. The author has lost none of her ability to gently capture a child's point of view. Little Bear receives a valentine from his secret admirer, and, wondering who it is, he visits all of his friends to deliver valentines and ask their opinions. Readers get to join in the secret, however, as Mother Bear hovers in the background, whispering with each friend as her son leaves. The warm and cozy ending is just right, as all of Little Bear's friends and his secret admirer gather for Valentine cookies. Green's watercolor illustrations employ a soft palette and gentle lines that mediate between Sendak's sketchier style in the original books and the bolder tones of the television series. This is a pitch-perfect picture book with timeless appeal, and a rare example of what can happen when marketing of a classic series is handled with care and respect for the children to whom the books are intended.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Maryland School for the Deaf, Columbia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Little Bear's Valentine, Else Holmelund Minarik continues the hero's adventures begun with Little Bear, with illustrations by Heather Green (after the style of Maurice Sendak, the original illustrator), based on Nick Jr.'s animated series. Little Bear makes Valentine's Day cards for friends Emily, Hen, Owl and Duck, but when he receives a card from a secret admirer, it keeps him smiling-and guessing-all day long. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Little Bear delivers valentines to his friends, hoping to discover which one of them is his secret admirer; but none seems a likely culprit. Although stiffer and less expressive than Sendak's own work in the I Can Read series, the muted watercolors preserve the original books' cozy, old-fashioned feel, and Minarik's story, which ultimately reveals Mother Bear as the admirer, exudes an inviting domestic warmth. From HORN BOOK Spring 2003, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
PreS^-K. Little Bear finds a secret valentine in his mailbox, so he visits each of his friends, Emily, Owl, Duck, and Hen, to see who sent it. He returns home, finds them all gathered around his mother's table for valentine cookies, and discovers that his secret admirer is much closer to home. Having been "based on the animated television series" that is based on Minarik's Little Bear character, this certainly hasn't the flair of the original books. Still, young children will enjoy the simple Valentine's Day story, and Green's pretty, Sendak-inspired depiction of the charming, rather sweet, and more colorful world that Little Bear now inhabits. --Carolyn Phelan
