The Smartest Bear and His Brother Oliver

by Alice Bach, Steven Kellogg (Illustrator)

A young bear is determined to stay awake during the winter while his family sleeps so he can finish reading the encyclopedia and thus be recognized as a separate identity from his non-bookish twin brother.

Genres: Childrens

34 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Anelis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it because the title is the sickest burn I've seen thus far in a children's book.

The story is about a family of bears that eat huge amounts of never ending delicious food in preparation for hybernation. I had to at least eat a pancake after finishing it.

Turns out, the title bear isn't that smart after all. It's just a preteen twin forming his identity by focusing on developing his unique characteristics in contrast to those of his brother, Oliver, almost to his detriment.

Mediocre illustrations and writing, cute main theme.

[raccoon reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looook. As a librarian I come across old books all the time. I was determined from birth to expose my son to a variety of books, spanning as many decades as possible. So whenever I found an older book I'd grab it up and see if it resonated with him.

I'm not sure when he started trying to read this. 4? 5? I don't know, but surely not as young as 3. It was frustrating for everyone because if you've ever been a parent and see your kid pick up *that* book that is too long to finish before bedtime reading is over, or at least too long to finish if you'd already said two books ago you needed to stop reading and tuck the nugget into bed but your a big pushover about books so here you are reading this 36 page wordy as fuck beast to your kid 30 minutes past bedime.

But damn did he love this thing. He found the drawings hilarious. I think he liked the fine detail of the penwork. Granted, so did I. The looks on the bears faces were so silly and OTT. It made for a great story.

I think this was also one of the books he started to try and read on his own. Lots of memories 💙🐻

[Emily Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is kind of old, but really fun for young readers. I like the message of having an accepting family, even when you're a little different.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two young cubs prepare for hibernation. Not typically a fan of animal stories, I actually liked this story because the characters are easy to relate to.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute children's book. I've had it since I was little and the title has always made me laugh. I will be reading this to my girls when they are old enough.