Best Bear Books for Kids

Are you a book loving family?  Here’s a collection of bear books for kids and preschoolers.  Books are such an easy and fun way to help kids learn about the world around them.

You’ll find books with fun bear characters, some fun books that combine both bear learning with a fun story line, and a few books which lean heavily towards being informative bear books with a child-friendly narrative.  These could be helpful in opening up conversations about bear safety with kids as well.

We love bringing home bags of books from the library and below are some of our favorite children’s bear books.  For your convenience, you’ll also find the images  are affiliate links sending you directly to the books on Amazon.

a young girl reading Fraser Bear on the couch

Thank you for clicking around.  Any purchase you happen to make after an affiliate click helps keep this blog running at no added cost to you.  See my policy and disclosure page for more info.  

 

Fun-loving Bear Books for Kids

Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What do you See?  By Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle

I have just discovered this book but my children tell me they’ve already been read it by teachers many times.  In the creator’s classic style, animals are asked what wildlife they see.  You’ll appreciated the variety of animals in the parade like the flying squirrel, mountain goat, and blue heron.

This book is best suited for preschoolers and kindergarten-aged children.  There are many teaching aids, printables, and activities for Eric Carle books that you could adapt for reading at home as well.

 

Big Bear Hug, by Nicholas Oldland

This is one of Oldland’s series of stories including the bear, the beaver, and the moose.  All of these books are brightly illustrated with an entertaining and simple message.  The fun pictures are great for toddlers and older while the story is entertaining for children up to early elementary ages.

I particularly enjoy this message about a bear’s love of hugs and how he uses that to protect the trees he also loves so dearly.

“what this bear loved to hug most was the trees” ~ Big Bear Hug, Nicholas Oldland

 

Berenstain Bears Books, by Stan and Jan Berenstain

You can’t have a collection of bear books without including a Berenstain Bear book!  There are so many great stories to choose from in this series.  So, I asked my youngest which one she liked most, and she choose Bears on Wheels.

Bears on Wheels is all about counting… and the silliness that happens when bears riding various bikes meet, race, or crash together.  It is perfect for early readers to practice their reading.

My mother-in-law loves to read the Berenstain Bears books to our kids.  So many of these books have very important life lessons and can lead to some very insightful and meaningful conversations with the kids.  A few of her favorites are:  Messy Room, No Girls Allowed, and the Bad Dream.

Bear Snores On, by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

A party is happening and bear snores on…

The illustrations are full of energy and color and the fonts and narrative easily bring emotion and rhythm to the stories.   Preschoolers will enjoy these stories and many come in board book format perfect for toddlers and babies to enjoy.

Of all the books in Wilson and Chapman’s series, this one is my favorite.

The Very Brave Bear and The Very Cranky Bear, by Nick Bland

This is a fun kid’s book series where Bear is put into various entertaining and fun situations by all his other animal friends.  Kids enjoy these bright illustrations and fun-loving stories.

 

Mother Bruce, by Ryan T. Higgins

In this story, “Bruce was a bear who lived all by himself.  He was a grump.”  The story continues to explain just how grumpy he actually is.  Then, something very exciting happens to Bruce, but he doesn’t think it’s exciting at all.  In fact, he’s quite put out by this happening and goes to extreme and entertaining lengths to solve his problem.

It’s a cute story, with fun illustrations, and a happy-ever-after ending… the perfect recipe to any good kid’s book!

 

Can’t You Sleep Little Bear, by Martin Waddell and Barbara Firth

There is a gentle sweetness in this story between two bears.  It is a bedtime story, the likeness to life so true, that all parents will appreciate it.

In this story Little Bear has been put to bed, but he’s worried about the dark.  Big Bear tries to help by lighting successive lanterns throughout the cave.  The end is touching and one that still brings a warmth to my heart when I read this to my sleepy little ones.

The Complete Tales of Winnie The Pooh, by A. A. Milne

Here’s a collection of all the classic Winnie the Pooh stories.  These are perfect stories to cuddle up with and are enjoyed by both adults and kids.

This particular collection of books would make a lovely new baby gift.

Educational Kids Bear Books

The Truth about Bears, by Maxwell Eaton III

The tag line on the cover of this book is “Seriously funny facts about your favorite animals”.  And, yes, my daughters did have a few giggles while we read through this book.  The illustrations are bright and bold with minimal large type, good for early grade-school readers.

The author does a great job of giving us basic facts about bears in an entertaining and easy to understand manner.  You’ll learn about a bear’s life cycle, hibernation, varieties, diets, even bear safety, and the environmental decline’s impact on bears.  This book  is good for kids between 3 and 7, possibly older if they’re reading the book independently.

Fraser Bear, a cub’s life, by Maggie de Vries and Renne Benoit

Story and illustrations weave together the interconnected story of life and death on the west coast of Canada.  The creators follow the life of Fraser, the bear, as he grows from a suckling cub to a bear living life on his own.

While the main character is Fraser, after reading this story to my children, I was surprised at the extended conversation about salmon which followed.

This story’s lifelike illustrations make it appropriate for young preschoolers, but the depth of information is interesting for older children (and adults) as well.

Snow Bear by Liliana Stafford and Lambert Davis

Polar Bear numbers are on the decline.  Global Warming and the resulting melting ice sheets are one of the major factors in this decline.  This book draws attention to this fact by sharing a touching story of one young boy’s relationship with one polar bear.

The story begins with “She came into town in the autumn to feed at the dump.  Her cubs had been killed by hunters…”.  Both the bear and the boy take turns caring for the other as they grow older.  The moving end to the story brings the plight of polar bears closer to our own heart.

Moon in Bear’s Eyes, by Stephen R. Swinburne and Crista Forest

The story begins with mamma Grizzly inviting her two cubs from the den on an April moonlight night in Yellowstone National Park.  As the season progresses, the detailed illustrations and straightforward narrative share the story of a Grizzly Bear’s day-to-day living.

While this book is a children’s picture book, it would also make a lovely addition to a nonfiction natural resource library as it is very detailed and true to life.

 

I do hope you’ve found a few books that you think your family might enjoy.  These bear books are all great for just reading together on the couch, for adding to bear educational curriculum, or even for opening discussion about bear safety and your kids.  


Other kids’ nature book lists you might be interested in:

a young girl reading Fraser Bear and a pile of other bear books

 

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