The Bears' House

Dear Readers, I am 37 years old and havent read this book since 1974 but I remember it as one of the books that helped form my character. I had nothing in common with Fran as a child. My childhood was easy. Fran had to deal with issues that many adults can not handle and it was through her eyes that I saw a different world. Sad and depressing? Well, I can only say that this book wasn't just fluff and silliness.( not that there is anything wrong with fluff and silliness sometimes) This story taught me something about compassion for others and understanding. I remember seeing my less fortunate classmates in a different light. The bears' house that Fran looked at but didnt play with touched me deeply and I could understand her wanting to go to the Bears' house as an escape from reality. I remember father bear telling her to persevere. I remember looking that word up in the dictionary and feeling empowered. So many times growing up and even now as an adult that advice proved to be solid. I read so many great books as a child. This one was very different from all the rest and I have verbally recomended it to people over the years but never without a few tears. Yes I recomend this book to children in the nine and up crowd. Although I was a middle class suburban child I think this book has something for children in other social economic groups as well. This story although sad made you feel hopeful and that all things are possible.

Fran Ellen is a likable character despite her problems. And the strange way of acting at school. I really wanted Fran Ellen to get that prize and I was so glad the teacher was nice after all. Those mean girls were the worst! This writer can really make the readers feel what it is like to be someone no one likes at school like Fran Ellen. Yet I admired Fran Ellen a lot. She was good to the baby and I liked the way she played with the bear's house.

I first read this book as a lonely, insecure, slightly overweight 13 year old. I was picked on a lot at that age and i could really relate to what Fran Ellen goes through in school. I, too, was also a big klutz in PE and i was so shy and afraid of bringing attention to myself that i'd hide in the bathroom just like Fran Ellen did. I however think that when those girls bullied her she should have stood up for herself more. I would have, i think. However they did pressure her a lot but i would not have given in like she did. It was cool the way in the end the teacher stands up for her as she notices Fran Ellen is improving a lot. The ending was sort of a cliff hanger, however, but one of my fave things about this book is Louis Glansman's illustrations! I had checked it out at the library and could not get enough of his pen and ink pictures--they are so real! The library kept reminding me to return the book and i could not get enough of the illustrations! CHECK IT OUT!!!

I first fell in love with "The Bear's House" as a shy, unpopular bookworm of a ten year old, who found a kindred spirit in Fran Ellen, the trying, picked on, "welfare kid" protagonist who escapes into a dollhouse fantasy world as she struggles to deal with poverty, class bullies and a mentally-ill mother. I stayed in love with the Bear's House as a twenty-seven year old confident, outspoken, social worker, who sees too many Fran Ellens in her day to day work. The Bear's House is a must read for children and adults alike- it's prose is blunt but eloquent, and it's message both tragic and hopeful. It paints a perfect picture of a child often forgotten in children's literature- worn out, tired, but without a completely happy ending. A read that not only delights children, but enlightens adults. Highly recommended for classroom read alouds and discussions.

Every child has had problems that they think they cannot handle. In this book, we live the struggle of a young girl just trying to make it in her world. She doesn't want to see her family split up, but in order to keep it together, she has to dodge reality and teachers alike. To escape from her problems, she creates a family for herself in the dolls that her teacher has brought in with her doll house. By creating this "family" her life becomes bearable for the time she is "with" them. A good book about the pain of living in a family that is not exactly like everybody else's family, and coping with reality