On the whole I think the books are great - but this one (“The New Baby”) goes to incredible lengths to gloss over the process of childbirth.
It’s a normal day. Small Bear and Papa Bear spend the day in the woods building a new bed for Small Bear; Mama Bear sees them off and pats her tummy. When they return, Mama Bear is cradling a newborn baby.
Not that I expect reality from a series of books about a family of bears that live in a treehouse, but this irks me, and seems overly prudish when compared to other books in the series. In some ways it’s a missed opportunity as the story’s chief concern is that Small/Brother is outgrowing his baby bed (hence the new bed) rather than the changes in family dynamics or the physical process of pregnancy and childbirth.
In any event my kids love the stories and I enjoy reading them.
Let us not forget the lovely nightcap which sets the whole outfit off something lovely.
The lack of real names bugged me, too. Some of their handling of issues was good,though-the one about the space critters (toys that Brother Bear collected)–I always liked the depiction of those toys and hoped they would come out as action figures. (I think they’re supposed to be Power ranger knockoffs, but are much better than PR).
These are the Space Grizzlies in “The Bad Dream”. The good guy is called Heero and the bad guy is called Sleezo. Brother Bear saves up to buy Sleezo’s Cloud Castle.
Yes, I know these stories far, far too well. This is what having a four-year old is all about.