The Fourteen Bears in Summer and Winter
When I was little, my grandparents on my mother’s side lived in Odessa, Missouri in a little ranch house on a big piece of farm land. I have so many wonderful memories of spending holidays and vacations there, exploring the woods behind the house, picking strawberries with Grandma Wilma, and playing with the cousins in the basement. My mom has five brothers and sisters, which means my brother and I ended up with a lot of cousins! Grandma and Grandpa kept plenty of toys and books in the basement to keep us entertained when we came to visit. There were hot wheels, an old pinball machine, and even little models of Winnebago vans that we would drive around the basement. One of my favorite things in the basement was this book, The Fourteen Bears in Summer and Winter, by Evelyn Scott and illustrated by Virginia Parsons. It’s a beautifully detailed picture book depicting the lifestyle and seasonal activities of a family of bears, made up of a mama bear, a papa bear, 11 little girl bears and one little boy bear.
The truly engaging aspect of this book, at least for me as a little girl, was the detailing of each individual bear. They each have their own beautiful name (Veronica, Virginia, Johanna, Ramona, Emma, Anna, Gloria, Hannah, Henrietta, Flora, Dora and Little Theodore), and each section of the book reveals the individuality of each little bear child. You get to see the style of each bear’s room, what flavor of ice cream they eat in the summertime, what their winter clothes look like, and a myriad of other details. You also see the different activities these bears do in the summer and winter, like ice skating! As a little girl, I could stare at this book for hours, soaking in all the little details of each bear’s outfit or bedroom, and picking my favorites. The reason I remembered this book in the first place was because I saw a photo of an alcove bed, which triggered a memory of the pages in this book about the bears’ bedrooms. One of them had a bed in an alcove, and I remember it being one of my favorites! It looked so cozy! I would love a house with an alcove bed someday.
Beautiful beds!
When I remembered this book a few months ago, I started looking for it on the internet. Apparently, I wasn’t the only person who adored this book as a child. It seems to have become quite the sought-after collector’s item! I’m not sure if my grandfather still has this book stored away somewhere, but if he does, I hope that it gets passed along to me someday! I’d love to read it again myself and share it with my future children!
Look at all their different bear houses!
This is the cover I remember
Thanks to Shabby Collectible Children’s Books for the images! Nobody else seems to have put any online.
Awww I’ve never read/seen/heard of this book! But bears! And so many! This looks so lovely! I hope you find a copy or get it passed down to you!
OK, I have to say that I also grew up on this book, and just this weekend I set out on a mission to find it although this may be the hardest treasure hunt I go through considering how many containers of old children’s books my mother has. The ice cream section and bear rooms sections were my absolute favorites. I also used to stare stare stare at those rooms deciding as a young child how I would decorate my house. Now I have my own house and decorating is my primary hobby. Such creativity went into this book. Yep, I’m determined to find it. Thank you for the images. Actually, I just googled “Family of Bears with houses” not remembering the title of this book—no results came up that I wanted, but I clicked Google Images, and your image was the FIRST RESULT. [Insert big smile]
Thanks for the comment, Ana! =)
It sounds like everyone who had this book nearby as a child LOVED it and spent hours staring at it like you and I did! I guess there’s just something so fascinating about all that decoration and customization for each of those little bears =)
I’m so glad this post helped you find the book again! I had such a hard time remembering much more than the pictures and the basic premise. If I ever get ahold of the copy I read as a child I’ll be sure to scan and post some better images.
Hi, you and I don’t know one another, but a Google search I just did for this book pointed me to your blog. I have the same happy memories of this book from my childhood. Fortunately, I still have the book. Unfortunately, it has been nealry loved to pieces. Anyway, just wanted to share a happy moment with a fellow book lover.