Bears in the Night (Bright & Early Books)

Rating:
Summary: One of the best-loved books of all time
Review: Every person has a favorite. Every author has a one that sells better than the rest. But "Bears in the Night" does something even more special - it is a book that people *love* unlike any other. Readers of all ages are drawn to its simple text; millions can recite them almost word for word... "down the tree ... over the bridge ..." Combined with brilliant illustrations so distinctive of the early days of the Berenstain Bears, a beautiful marriage of words and pictures becomes a work of art. "Bears in the Night" is a book for bedtime, story time, any time. It is a book for Halloween, a book for camp. It is a book for all places and all people and all times. Call me sentimental, but a hundred years from now, "Bears in the Night" will remain. It may not sell as many copies as "The Cat in the Hat" or teach a lesson like "The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room," but it will always have worn corners... it will always cause a child's jaw to drop or eyes to widen... it will always hold a place in people's hearts... and as a result, Spook Hill and the safety of that tree house deep in Bear Country will be more than places on paper, but dreams and fantasies and real living places inside the minds and hearts of every person who reads this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have for begining readers
Review: I am in my 20's now, but I still have my copy of "Bears in the Night" that was passed on to me from my cousin in the 1970's. That book holds so many great memories for me. My mom and I read it together many, many times and was it especially helpful in teaching sight words. It is funny too, I still laugh everytime I think of the bears sneaking up "Spook Hill"!

Rating:
Summary: My 3-year-old's favorite.
Review: I've been reading this book (an old copy - the one my dad read to me) to my 3-year-old son lately, and I've noticed it has helped open up his vocabulary to a wide array of prepositional phrases.

The book focuses on these - "Down the tree. Over the wall. Under the bridge. Around the lake." etc. - with words and illustrations. My son had a decent grasp on the concept of prepositions (he understood them when he heard them) - but after a few readings of this book, they've begun showing up in his speech.

The book is a fun one. Repeat readings, and my son still laughs at the ending.

Rating:
Summary: Great illustrations
Review: In this story a group of 7 little bears creep out of bed and out of their house to go adventuring during the night. Their adventures take them all the way "Out the window. Down the tree. Over the wall. Under the bridge. Around the lake. Between the rocks. Up Spook Hill." On Spook Hill they meet with a creature that sends them all clamoring back to their safe bed; an owl.

The pictures are done mostly in shades of blue, in order to make it look like nighttime. I think they do a wonderful job of conveying the mood- the lantern gives off yellow light and adds a neat effect.

The story is told in a very, very simple way. It is told entirely in short, three word sentences, which fit the sneaky mood of the bears perfectly. The lack of elaboration draws the eye to the drawings to look for explanation there. This works amazingly well, and makes for a fun, concise book.

Loggie-log-log-log

Rating:
Summary: Great for teaching prepositions
Review: My daughter is beginning to understand "between" "under" "out" and other prepositions from this book. The repetition helps reinforce concepts and it has the perfect amount of text on the page for an 18-month old. Plus, the pictures are really cute.

Rating:
Summary: This is one of the best books anybody well ever read!
Review: This book is about these twelve little bears heard noises so they just ignored it.Well the second time they heard it the oldest one said to go out so they all did one by one.They went down the tree over the bridge and threw the woods alltogether.Next they climbed the old old spookey tree, they thought the whole time they heard the noises it was something spookey but it turned out just to be a slepping owl just hooing in the wind. So they ran back over the bridge where the water was and climbed back up the tree and in the window ,got under the covers and went to bed ssssshhhhhh.!

Rating:
Summary: A great start
Review: This is a really great childrens book to use in the classroom. I use it while teaching prepositions and preprositional phrases to my middle school students!

Rating:
Summary: This is one of the best books anybody well ever read!
Review: What a wonderful book for children and how many great memories! I can't even think of the title of this book without a grin plastered to my face. When I was very tiny and first learning to read aloud, I used to read this book to my younger brother. He found it riveting and it quickly became his favorite book and a nightly ritual to "read" the book. Ordinarily, no reading took place because the book was so simple to memorize. I can still recite the entire volume, cover to cover, almost thirty years later!

My brother now has two sons and the first present I bought for them was a spanking new copy of "Bears in the Night." The elder of the two has it commited to memory. Since the younger boy is only six months old, I'll give him a few more months until he has done the same!

Seriously, this book has a simple but attention grabbing plot where the kids are mischevious and sneak out of bed after dark. They go exploring and soon find that scary things lurk in the dark on the top of Spook Hill. Thankfully, they make their way home to safety. Somehow, you know that Mom was completely aware of what they were up to but knowingly let the children learn this lesson for themselves.