Customer Reviews

The Bear Who Wanted to Be a Bear

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2 star:		(1)
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I have been unable to locate "The Bear Who Wanted To Be A Bear" anywhere! The last time I read this story was about 20 years ago. My family and I still talk about it fondly and with many happy memories.

The book is about a bear who is lost and confused and not sure what his calling in life is. He tries to find himself by taking on a variety of jobs such as joining a circus, working in a factory...

Eventually, he listens to his heart and realizes who he is and what he needs and wants to do.

The illustrations for this book have a very playful and animated 70's style. One particular page I remember quite vividly as do my siblings is where the bear takes a job in a factory. The illustration displays the inside of a factory filled with a twisted maze of foreign equipment made of pipes, wires and gadgets. My brother, sister and I would take turns making the sound effects for each piece of equipment and imagining how the machines operated.

Sometimes I wonder if the books I loved as a child were great because of the actual story or because of the wonderful memories I have with my family reading them to me. Either way, this book is sure to do the same for others.

The previous reviewer has gotten a few details of the story wrong - who wouldn't, remembering a childhood favorite. In this picture book translation from German, a bear wakes up from his winter's nap to find his forest has been razed. He meets a man from the newly built factory, who puts him to work there. By winter, he realizes where he really belongs. Although originally published in 1976, the book's design gives it a very contemporary look; sort of an Anthony Browne meets Chris Van Allsburg, with dark, detailed art and text boxes. Hey, you publishers out there - get this book back in print! Patti McLaughlin, Children's Librarian, The Free Library of Philadelphia

I just received a copy of the book on the weekend as a 30th birthday present from my Dad, who used to read this book to my brother and I when we were growing up. It is easily my favorite picture book from my childhood. My Dad didn't want to part with his copy of it, one of his more prized possessions, so he tracked down one for me on Amazon.

In my opinion, the book is far more than a simple children's book. It is a work of art, combining a multilayered story that comments on industrialism, identity, and the world of work, with astonishing drawings by Jorg Muller.

If folks know of other works of Jorg Muller or Jorg Steiner (the author), I'd love to hear from you at paul at hainsworth dot com.

Read the reviews and it sounded like the kind of book I was interested in for my boy. I was looking for a book that teaches simple life lessons. This book is quite dark and a little somber, actually it's just darn depressing. The art is pretty cool though. I misinterpreted the title and thought it's message would be rather that you should be just who you are, but I didn't get that from this book. So perhaps my expectation was too different.

I read most of the reviews of this "classic" children's book. My parents read this book to me when I was a kid in the mid-to-late 1940's. I bought an edition for our son in the 1980's. I am now trying to buy two more copies for my grand-nephews. Forget the the politics & philosophy. This is purely a treat to read and to have!

This was my favorite book as a child. I have fond memories of staring at the stark illustrations for hours. Even as a child I felt it had great depth far beyond my other favorites at the time (The Berenstain Bears books, A Pocket for Corduroy, Mystery on the Docks, Hot Air Henry, etc). 25+ years later I find myself thinking of it, its relevance so palpable in my life. Perhaps it's a heavy one for kids, but I think its density and layers offer a rewarding challenge to kids, urging them to pursue their true selves, which only becomes more difficult the older they grow. I have every intention of reading this story to my children, if for no other reason than the importance of its message.

A dear bear awakens from hibernation to find industry, literally a large factory, has landed upon him. He is pushed right into laboring in the factory---just needs a little clean up, some clothes, and to stop being so lazy. Befuddled to say the least, you sense his discomfort and confusion with the entire circumstance---from the workings of the factory to the CEO's over-the-top, modern office. Despite powerful and repeated messages to the contrary, the bear is finally able be a bear.

What a piece of art. In the sense it is graphically beautiful with expressive, iconic images, and dense coloring as well as deep with Jorg Steiner's important adaption of satirist Frank Tashlin's (author of The Bear that Wasn't) messages about self, industry, and the earth.

Definitely something to ponder, for young and, well, even MBA-possessing.

I bought this book for my kids the year it came out. They loved it and treasure the memory of every bit of the story.

No matter how many times they read it or what their reading level was they felt for the bear, suffered his frustration, ached for his situation and laughed at the people who could not see a bear for being a bear.

The pictures tell their own story. A child doesn't even have to be a reader to appreciate the situations the bear encounters. Among the more memorable are the one where the bear is looking at a bear skin rug, the look on his face is something that is hard to forget, in a series of pictures the bear works his way up the corporate ladder, each person in the series is more expensively dressed until finally he meets the biggest boss of all... who has a hole in his shoe!

I've used this book to teach about social class, capitalism and the construction of self. The real beauty of this book lies in its accessibility... the youngest children hear the story and root for the bear, older kids find themselves seeing injustice being done, those more politically aware are exposed to environmentalism and issues about how the world works. Adults find so many messages, about being who you really are, social injustice and ultimately freedom.

I can see why therapists use it. I can also see why someone might find it subversive. But it is delciously subversive in the way a great dessert is, satisfying to the mind and soul in a way that only the greatest books are.

This is a great book. It is loosly based on "The Bear Who Wasn't" which is widely available in paperback. It is lovingly illustrated and talks about being "real" even when the world won't allow it.

I had never seen it before I was in therapy, which is where I was introduced to it. By the time I could afford to get a copy, it was out of print, and considering the prices on places like Barnes and Noble. com, people really don't want to part with their copes

Had I ever received my order, I could have read the book I paid for and shared my thoughts about it with other customers. TZM Books has never replied to my e-mails, and Amazon has been less than helpful in rectifying the situation. Be wary doing business with either; they'll take your money and waste your time.