What It Takes to Be a Bear

My Bedtime Anytime Storybook by V. Gilbert Beers is a collection of stories that follows six friends—Bru the bear, KaWally the koala, McWhiskers the mouse, PJ the zebra, Puddles the hippo, and Tux the penguin—who learn lessons about friendship, sharing, forgiveness, and working together. It’s a fun storybook with the occasional subtle nod to God being the Creator of all living things.

Each story is told in the third person, told in a way that makes it seem like the narrator is speaking right to the reader. For example, in A Bicycle for Us All:

“I suppose McWhiskers was about the happiest birthday mouse you have ever seen. Of course, you may not have seen too many birthday mice, especially birthday mice riding a cute bicycle...If you watch carefully, you might see him, OK?”

Sometimes the narrator asks the reader questions, like in Sweet Songs:

“Have you ever gotten up in the morning and felt like that? I’m sure you have.”

This type of narration felt warm and personal coming from my mother’s lips as my sisters and I cuddled against her in our jammies right before bed. My mom brought these stories to life with the different voices she gave to each of the six main characters, then using her own neutral tone for the narration. The deep, loud bellows of Bru contrasted with the high-pitched squeak of McWhiskers evoked giggles from my sisters and me, but we held on to every word.

This storybook taught us about helpfulness, pride, honesty, and courage in probably the most effective way for our ages, and now my nieces and nephew love to hear the stories, though I can’t seem to replicate my mom’s voice-acting abilities.

If I could add one more story to the big blue book, I would make it about staying true to yourself, even when others try to persuade you to do something you know is wrong. It’s easy for kids to compromise on their morals just to “fit in” with older kids who know exactly what to say to manipulate a situation. If I could collaborate with V. Gilbert Beers and Tom O’Connor, the illustrator who helped me visualize the stories of my childhood, I would write “What It Takes to be a Bear: a story about being true to yourself.”

The forest echoed with the laughter of six carefree friends having a picnic and exchanging jokes. The squirrels, birds, and other forest residents were used to the cheerful sounds of the companions engaging in activities of all kinds, no matter the volume. But, a group of visitors from across the valley trying to bat a honeypot out of a tree paused their recreational destruction to investigate.

A dark shadow covered Bru, KaWally, McWhiskers, PJ, Puddles, and Tux, silencing their storytelling. They looked up to find the source of the darkness: four bears standing with arms crossed over their chests.

“What do we have here?” the biggest bear, Grim, sneered.

Unaware of the menacing tone, McWhiskers cheerfully replied, “We’re having a picnic! It’s a lovely day.”

The four visitors looked at each other, then exploded into harsh laughter.

“Is that right, pipsqueak?” Grim teased, lifting McWhiskers by the tail with two sharp claws.

“Hey!” KaWally objected. “That’s our friend! Let him go!”

More insulting laughter ensued.

“Your friend? What a sight. You seem to be far from home, little koala. Be careful stepping into our territory.”

Bru stood, sizing up these other bears.

“That’s enough,” he growled.

Without thinking, Grim dropped McWhiskers, who landed in the safety of Tux’s wing. “And who is this? A rodent disguised as a bear?”

Bru was lost for words as another bear nudged the leader and chimed in, “Yeah, he ain’t no bear.”

Bru, now triggered by his wounded pride, argued, “I am a real bear!”

“Oh, really? Prove it.”

The five chums still sitting on the picnic blanket jumped in: “You don’t have to prove anything! We know who you are!”

Bru, lost for words, looked between his friends and the intruders. The bully bears guffawed once more and turned their backs on the six small friends. Bru’s little companions delivered quick encouragement to lighten the mood, then carried on with their picnic and conversation. However, Bru could not stop thinking about what the bigger bears had said.

“I am a real bear...right?” he thought to himself.

After the friends dispersed to their homes, Bru took a walk to clear his head.

“I am a real bear. I eat what bears eat. I look the same as those bigger bears.”

Bru was so lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t notice the group of bullies until he almost ran right into the biggest of the four.

“Oh!” he exclaimed. “I’m sorry! I didn’t--”

“Hey, look who it is!” the Grim hollered. The three cronies erupted in laughter.

Bru looked at his toes nervously.

“Did you come to prove yourself, cub?” one of the bullies asked.

“I’m not a cub,” Bru growled. “I just want to know...how do I prove that I’m a real bear?”

Grim gestured to the tree around which the other three stood.

“See this tree? We want the beehive out of it. If you can knock the hive from the tree, then you’re a real bear.”

“Don’t worry--I have honey pots in my den! I’ll grab those so we don’t have to tear down the whole hive.”

“We don’t have time for that,” Grim rumbled. “Why take a little when we have access to the whole thing?”

“But...if we take the hive out of the tree, where will the bees live?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” growled one of the other bears as he swung a fallen branch at the hive. “They made this honey for us. It’s rightfully ours!”

“They can’t continue to make the honey if we destroy their home!” Bru objected.

The four valley bears considered this but didn’t want to admit that Bru was right.

“Fine,” Grim muttered, “We’ll give you a new challenge but only because we’re tired.”

After the four bullies whispered to each other, they led Bru to a cluster of bushes that once held berries, but they had nearly been picked clean.

“Pick those berries for me. We’re hungry.”

This challenge didn’t seem so bad. Bru went to work collecting the rest of the berries from the bushes, but it wasn’t enough to share between five bears. Grim scanned the area, then grunted toward Billy Badger, working hard to get his own berries into his home.

Now, if you didn’t know the area, you wouldn’t know Billy, but Bru was familiar with the friendly, elderly badger.

“Take his,” Grim ordered. “You’re bigger and stronger than he is.”

“It was probably really difficult for him to collect all those.”

“Well? We’re waiting!”

Bru nervously approached Billy, who greeted him cheerfully, “Hiya, Bru!”

Bru looked down at the berries he had collected already and placed them on top of Billy the badger’s supply, nearly doubling it.

“What is this for!?” Billy exclaimed.

“I had some extra,” Bru said with a wink.

Grim clenched his paws in anger but led Bru and the others to the center of the path. He impatiently spat, “You can’t retrieve a beehive. You can’t collect berries for all of us. Can you do anything that real bears can do?”

The other bears laughed, “Yeah, I bet he can’t catch a fish either.”

Grim mercilessly continued, “Can you climb a tree? Swim? Growl?”

Bru hesitated, overwhelmed by the insults flying his way.

“I knew you couldn’t do it. See fellas? He’s no bear after all.”

Fed up from all the heckling, Bru let out the meanest, loudest growl you’ve probably ever heard. Birds took flight, squirrels sought refuge in their trees, and if you were there, you would have been quaking in terror.

Just as the bullies appeared impressed, Bru heard a frightened squeak from behind a stump. A closer look revealed McWhiskers cowering and trembling.

“McWhiskers?”

“Oh, Bru! You sounded so scary, I didn’t realize it was you!”

Bru realized in that moment that he didn’t care what the other bears thought of him. He scowled and faced his bullies.

“I don’t want to become someone who destroys homes, robs other critters, and scares my friends.”

“I thought you wanted to be a real bear,” scoffed one of the valley bears.

“Just because you’re a bear doesn’t mean you have to be cruel to anyone smaller than you.”

McWhiskers joined in, “Who you are is not the same as what you are.” Bru smiled down at McWhiskers, who continued, “Bru is a bear, but more importantly, he’s a good friend—grateful, generous, and kind.”

As Bru and McWhiskers returned home, the bears from across the valley reflected on what they had learned that day. And today if you stumbled upon them in the forest, you might just find them picnicking or laughing or helping creatures of the forest.