Little Bear’s circular story begins in the illustrations on the title page, drawing a Wild Things-styled picture that his friend Hen takes to Little Bear’s grandmother. In return laughing Grandmother asks Hen to take a kiss back to Little Bear and the fun really begins. How the kiss is relayed from Hen to a series of unlikely and amusing animals is pure delight! In the end, two skunks get caught up in a kiss exchange until the exasperated Hen gets the kiss back for final delivery to Little Bear and a marriage for the happy skunk couple.


The first Little Bear book was published in 1957 and marks the beginning of the popular I Can Read series of books from HarperCollins Publishers. The straightforward text, large typeface and plot-oriented illustrations all aid the beginning reader. Caldecott award-winner Sendak’s illustrations focus on the interactions between the animals and personify their actions and expressions that capture the warmth and amusement throughout the story. A Kiss For Little Bear is an ALA Notable Children’s Book and New York Times Best Illustrated Book that will successfully engage children in their early independent reading.

Interspecies love!

The story is simple, yet surprising funny. Very good.

Barrett’s favorite- mine too.

A very cute story. I remember watching the cartoon on Nickelodeon when I was a child, but I had no idea it was based on this series, let alone drawn by Maurice Sendak.

The text of this Little Bear book is quite a bit shorter than others in the series. The drawings also have much more hatch work, making them come across as fuller and they take up more space on the page. The twist in the story had me cracking up, I LOVED it! Minarik is really able to capture the nuance of children's emotions around heady topics, in this case, romance and attraction.

This was one of my favorite childhood books.

Little Bear makes a drawing for his grandmother and asks Hen to give it to her. When the drawing is delivered, Grandmother asks Hen to give Little Bear a kiss. After a series of events, Little Bear finally gets his kiss...but two little skunks decide to get married!

A cute beginning-to-read book. Much shorter than the other four books in the Little Bear series.

I read these books with my mom when I was small and they're just as wonderful now as they were 25 years ago. Little Bear is just unbearably sweet and I can now truly appreciate Mother Bear as well who demonstrates patience and ironic detachment when it comes to the antics of her Little Bear. The illustrations by Maurice Sendak are beautiful and truly make the stories come to life. I've read a whole bunch of these stories to my son, and he enjoys them, but not as much as I do I think. There's a nostalgia in them that beckons me. My son seems to like them well enough, but it could be that they'll be better for slightly older children. Maybe 5-6.