While I understand, and agree, that a child’s place is not in front of the television, I also know there are times when setting them in front of the television is the only thing that works. We have found this to be especially true since bringing our second little girl into our day to day household.
Of course, this power comes with great responsibility.
We’re fans of Noggin, and occasionally PBS and Disney. We only own one DVD of any of the shows on these networks and that is Little Bear – Rainy Day Tales. These days you find Little Bear playing on Noggin and quite honestly this is the only show that can captivate the whole family (Mom, Dad, Big sis (3yr) and little Sis (16mo)).
The Little Bear episodes manage to pack a great story in the space of about seven minutes. The stories are so good that my wife and I, on more than one occasion, have said we could do a lot worse than aspiring to be as good of parents as Father and Mother Bear. I know you’re thinking, “This is just a cartoon dude!”, and you would be right, but it’s also a cartoon we are choosing to put in front of our children and that makes it a little bit more.
The thing with Father and Mother Bear is you can relate to them.
Father Bear is a fisherman and he spends a fair amount of time away from home. Mother Bear holds down the fort while he is away and comforts Little Bear while he’s missing his Father. Sound like any of you? When Father Bear is gone the story line doesn’t only revolve around Little Bear. You also get a glimpse into how Mother Bear is feeling when Father Bear is away. This is a very big deal to me, as the show is not preaching the mice will play while the cat is away, but rather it is showing that there is a lot of work to be done when the whole family unit isn’t together and everyone needs to pull their weight, children included.
There are several other things that relate to your real life. In a couple of episodes Little Bear has to take his playing outside because Mother Bear needs to pay the bills, or because Father Bear is preparing for a trip.
In others Father Bear is tired and just wants some quiet while he reads the newspaper. Imagine that.
Most of the episodes focus on Little Bear and his adventures with his friends, real and imaginary. They are like magic in how they draw you in. I know this sounds silly but these shows really are special. Several times my three year old daughter and I have sat on the edge of our bed, each with a belt in our hands, as we fished off the side of the bed and waited for a bite from Mighty, the whale that occasionally partakes in Little Bear’s day. This is great stuff for spring boarding the imagination of a child and I for one appreciate it.
So, if you are a parent of a small child around the pre-school years I’d encourage you to check the show out. If you don’t have kids but have the privilege of being an Aunt or Uncle use this as a gift idea. No thanks necessary. 
One last thing and I promise I’ll close this post. I don’t think television, even when it’s quality material like this, replaces the act of reading a book to your child. Books open a whole new dimension to a young persons imagination that a TV show simply cannot touch. Oh, and that cuddle time while reading together? That can’t be beat either.
All my kids have adored Little Bear. What a great show!! And a fun-to-read post!
Thanks Karen. As you can tell we think Little Bear is top notch. I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
Awww, so cute. Having a 4 month old, I’m not yet familiar with Little Bear but it sounds like a cartoon that we could all enjoy as a family. I’ll have to check it out eventually.
(P.S. We’ve been reading to our little guy since he came home with us! It’s so much fun to watch him look at the pages turn and get excited at the inflections in our voices.)
My daughter was so addicted to Little Bear, that one of her imaginary friends was named Emily. I think my daughter actually believed SHE was Little Bear at one point.
Excellent post. Of course you have to cleanse your soul with a post about sports or barbecue ribs or something with more testosterone. I AM JOKING, OBVIOUSLY!
Thanks for reminding me about Little Bear. In this age of parents who can’t distinguish Little Bear from Spongebob, it is refreshing to know that there is some quality on television.
Have fun!
To qualify: I fall pretty far to the left on the TV spectrum. (The only TV that my nigh-three-year-old has watched is Tigers baseball and Spartan football.) However, I’m not completely anti-television.
I think that TV can offer some things that books can’t when it comes to imagination. Instead of static characters on the page, it shows dynamic characters actually interacting. A Dad that’s willing to put his all into reading a book — with all the voices that entails — can come close, but this Dad doesn’t always have the energy to put forth that effort for every book.
I think the reason that I’m leery of following Chuck’s advice is that I’m worried that Little Bear is a sort of gateway drug. My son (and I?) may get something out of it, but will watching it lead me to the land of the Wiggles and Elmo? Almost every story that a coworker tells about his son involves the phrase, “My son was watching…”. I really like that when we visit family or friends, my son doesn’t even realize that there’s a TV in the house and will socialize or play with whoever’s there.
How have you (meaning everyone out there) established the TV boundary to foster the positive and ward off the negative?
Too funny! I have written about Little Bear too. I feel that Little Bear is the measuring bar, the standard in children’s programming for others to measured by. First, it has no annoying music. Second, it is soothing enough to fall asleep too while your child is engrosed, it is actually a side effect to watching the show since it is like what NPR would be if it were a children’s cartoon. Third, and maybe most importantly, it contains “a” duck. A duck is pivotal to quality children’s programming and without this webbed footed, fluffy ball of cuteness Little Bear would be second to Wonder Pets. Peace!
@Momo Fali – There are times when I catch my little girl playing and I’ll notice her playing along the Little Bear story lines. Definitely interesting (interesting is one of little bears favorite words).
@Dan – Not to worry, I’ve got some guy worthy stuff coming up soon.
This will likely translate into a story that I probably should be ashamed of but I’m not.
@Patrick – Nice to see you back! I’m obviously not anti-television. TV was a big part of my childhood, right or wrong, and not always in the babysitter capacity. Your reference to “a sort of gateway drug” is a valid one; however, I think just about anything could be considered a gateway drug depending upon the intent and circumstance. I hope others respond to your question because I’m interested in hearing the responses as well.
My response to fostering the positive and warding off the negative is:
1. You can’t be lazy about it. Don’t use the TV as a babysitter.
2. You have to be involved and watching with your child, at least until you are sure the few good shows you have seen are not the exception when they should be the rule.
3. All screen time (PC, TV, DS, etc) should be tightly controlled.
I’m sure we’ll be expanding on these and more in future posts.
Thanks for the comment!
Re: “Mother Bear holds down the fort while he is away and comforts Little Bear while he’s missing his Father. Sound like any of you?”
Oh, yes, yes, yes! I have often said that I aspire to be Mother Bear. She’s always so calm, kind, and sensible. I felt the same way you do about the show overall — loved it!!
I remember feeling sad when the kids started to lose interest in the show as they grew older…
Thanks for taking me back.
Oh, and re: “3. All screen time (PC, TV, DS, etc) should be tightly controlled,” I agree completely. Now that the kids are older, we limit it to Fri, Sat Sun only and only 1 hour a day (not during the week b/c of homework demands). If they’ve reached the limit, then we turn the tv/DS off and hand ‘em a book. When they were little, that worked best if we had a great picture book and snuggled up with them right then to read it with them. Much easier for them to stop watching/playing that way (“Yay! Story time!!”).
Great post!!
In response to Patricks comment:
Our motto: Everything in moderation. We have used the TV as a babysitter at times, but my kids also read, play with toys, and draw. My son is big time into clay. I just wish he liked the outdoors a little more though.
I do agree about the video games though. My ex-wife gave my son a Nintendo DS for Christmas last year (against my wishes), and he has gotten too glued to that thing. I will probably be implementing a DS ban on weeknights very soon.
my 4 year old is obsessed with little bear. i have dvr’d so many of the episodes and we watch them over and over. i do have the t.v on, way too much but, he doesn’t just sit and watch it…he plays with his toys, and the t.v is a background noise. i love little bear, though. he is a great babysitter!
Maurice Sendak is genius–the guy that wrote or co-wrote much of the Little Bear stories. My kids also are huge fans of Little Bear and we do miss him. We’ve recently had a tv moratorium and basically cut it out. However, we used the show as a reverse gateway into the world of reading and discovered all sorts of great works by Sendak, namely Where the Wild Things Are and of course the Little Bear series.
Of all the Noggin shows, I found Little Bear the hardest to watch. It’s not really the content … it just seems a little too trippy at times. My kid likes the show, but once little bear starts floating around and talking to the moon and the fish, I start getting anxiety attacks. And no — they aren’t college flashbacks!
Little Bear is most loved and treasured in our household. We sold all our old tapes b/c we decided not to buy another VCR, and it really pained me.
Now that we have Davey we’ll collect them on DVD for him. They are great and we loved all of them! Thanks for the reminder. Our days are currently filled with Thomas and Baby Einstein.
Oh and I wanted to encourage your readers to get rid of their TV. Seriously. Getting rid of our TV/Cable connection has been the best thing ever! (I still get my fix online, like at abc.com and fox.com)
Thanks to everyone for the comments!
@Joe – We love ‘Duck’ too.
@zoesdad – I have not done my due diligence on Maurice Sendak but will be doing so. I think wikipedia has a decent entry.
@Busyday – The “trippy times” are some of the best for me, but I think I’m a bit trippy where imagination is concerned. Many times my girls and I have searched for an elusive purple hippo between our house and the neighbors.
@Secret Agent Mama – We have considered dumping cable/tv all together. I use our media center PC to record a couple of shows for my wife. We really don’t watch it much. I’d miss Discovery channel though. We’ll have to take the leap one of these days. It’s kinda like a security blanket.
My son used to watch Noggin and PBS. I loved that they were commercial-free, and that I didn’t have to worry about the content of the shows he was watching. I was so sad when he grew out of them. I miss Little Bear.
A leap worth taking, Chuck! Seriously. You can adapt to watching/getting your discovery fix in other places (mainly the net). Do it, do it, do it (said in my best Beavis voice). lol
Oh and my favorite character was the frog..was his name “Frog” or “Toad”?
My daughter just turned 6 and we still watch Little Bear.
Great blog, by the way. I hadn’t seen it before today.
From my experience, 80% of children like Little Bear. No wonder their parents are also a huge fans of Little Bear
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