HOME | DD

Description
1. Little Bear (Little Bear) - I like Little Bear because he's inclusive, playful, imaginative and a good role model for children. He's rarely cross or grumpy and when he does make a mistake he resolves it by the end of the episode. The TV show Little Bear, based on a book series by Else Homelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak, is one of my very favourite children's programmes ever created. My Mum taped as many episodes of it as possible onto VHS tapes and I have quite literally watched them all more than twenty times. I re-watched them a couple of months ago and despite the fact I'm an adult now I still loved them just as much - even more, in some ways, now that I more fully appreciate the level of expertise that went into crafting the series.

2. Old Bear/Little Bear/Bramwell Brown (Old Bear & Friends) - These gentle stories written by Jane Hissey were adapted into a stop-motion children's show for ITV that maintained a staggering amount of accuracy, looking exactly like her original paintings with no alterations to the plots. The characters are all well-developed and believable and the charming, old-fashioned stories have always gone down well with viewers of all ages.

3. Captain Barnacles (Octonauts) - Barnacles is another good influence on children. He is a natural leader who cares about every member of his crew and tries to ensure they are all included. It is extremely lucky that he is an expert at keeping his cool when you consider how his first officer Lt Kwazii can be quite a handful sometimes with his daredevil stunts, wild treasure hunts and annoying ghost stories.

4. Barnaby Bear (Barnaby & Becky) - This was one of my sister's favourite shows as a little girl. We still enjoy watching it now as Barnaby Bear is just so funny - not because he's clumsy or has any of the more clichéd comic traits, but rather because he is just so bossy! As an adult, I can really see how the writers knew that viewers would relate to Barnaby. The series revolves around his travels in the UK (and sometimes abroard) with his Dad (and occasionally his Mum), whose face is never seen as he's allegedly holding the video camera. His best friend Becky is always enlightened after his trips as to his adventures. There were some pretty hard-hitting storylines too for a young audience. In one episode, he had to call the mountain rescue service when he found a young girl who'd broken her leg whilst hiking in Wales and another time he helped the coast guard when they had to rescue two children in a dinghy that had gone too far out to sea. I think this programme was an extremely engaging way to get children interested in geography - some of the skills I used for my GCSEs were initially acquired from certain episodes of Barnaby Bear!

5. Berenstain Bears (Berenstain Bears) - I never actually saw the television series, but I definitely remember the original books, which were one of the many tools my Mum used when she taught me how to read. My favourite one was "The Berenstain Bears And The Missing Dinosaur Bone". I often used to imagine helping the bears solve the mystery inside the creepy museum.

6. The bear under the stairs (Dear Bear) - Dear Bear, created by the fabulous author-illustrator Joanna Harrison, is the story of a young girl named Katie with a terrible fear that a viscious bear might live in the cupboard under the stairs. To help her overcome her fear, her parents suggest she writes letters to this bear (I still can't believe what a clever idea this is!) and gradually Katie becomes friends with him, until eventually she is brave enough to look inside the closet and finds a cuddly teddy inside whom she has a tea party with. I loved this story so much that when I was little I used to write letters to the imaginary bear under my stairs and he always responded!

7. Sarah/Louise/Charles/Robert/William (Teddybears) - This droll books series was made into a television show for ITV, which had many differences to the original stories, but never any less witty humour. My favourite episode has always been the one where Charles tries to read a ghost story to Robert and William, not realising that Louise has overheard and has decided to pretend to be a ghost herself. The best bit had to be when Charles got to a really scary bit in his book and Louise made a ghostly, "Whooooo..." from behind the door, only to make Charles jump out of his skin and yell, "OH, MY FURRY FEET!"

8. Baby Bear (Whatever Next!) - I must have read this book so many times when I was small. Jill Murphy, also the creator of the Worst Witch, wrote this story about a young bear's imaginary trip to the moon before bathtime that never fails to entertain it's young audience.

9. Mr Bear and family (Mr Bear) - This has to be one of the funniest, most honest children's book series I have ever read. My favourite has to be "Mr Bear's Holiday" about the Bear family's painfully amusing camping trip that results in a catalogue of disasters, including a cow get stuck in the tent!

10. Little Bear and Big Bear (Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?) - An absolutely beautiful story about trust that brings peace whenever I read it, written by the phonomenal Martin Waddell, who has written many other oustanding picture books such as Rosie's Babies, The Big Big Sea, Farmer Duck and - my definite favourite - Once There Were Giants, a wonderful story about a girl's growth from a baby to a mother herself.

Original meme by

Description
1. Little Bear (Little Bear) - I like Little Bear because he's inclusive, playful, imaginative and a good role model for children. He's rarely cross or grumpy and when he does make a mistake he resolves it by the end of the episode. The TV show Little Bear, based on a book series by Else Homelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak, is one of my very favourite children's programmes ever created. My Mum taped as many episodes of it as possible onto VHS tapes and I have quite literally watched them all more than twenty times. I re-watched them a couple of months ago and despite the fact I'm an adult now I still loved them just as much - even more, in some ways, now that I more fully appreciate the level of expertise that went into crafting the series.

2. Old Bear/Little Bear/Bramwell Brown (Old Bear & Friends) - These gentle stories written by Jane Hissey were adapted into a stop-motion children's show for ITV that maintained a staggering amount of accuracy, looking exactly like her original paintings with no alterations to the plots. The characters are all well-developed and believable and the charming, old-fashioned stories have always gone down well with viewers of all ages.

3. Captain Barnacles (Octonauts) - Barnacles is another good influence on children. He is a natural leader who cares about every member of his crew and tries to ensure they are all included. It is extremely lucky that he is an expert at keeping his cool when you consider how his first officer Lt Kwazii can be quite a handful sometimes with his daredevil stunts, wild treasure hunts and annoying ghost stories.

4. Barnaby Bear (Barnaby & Becky) - This was one of my sister's favourite shows as a little girl. We still enjoy watching it now as Barnaby Bear is just so funny - not because he's clumsy or has any of the more clichéd comic traits, but rather because he is just so bossy! As an adult, I can really see how the writers knew that viewers would relate to Barnaby. The series revolves around his travels in the UK (and sometimes abroard) with his Dad (and occasionally his Mum), whose face is never seen as he's allegedly holding the video camera. His best friend Becky is always enlightened after his trips as to his adventures. There were some pretty hard-hitting storylines too for a young audience. In one episode, he had to call the mountain rescue service when he found a young girl who'd broken her leg whilst hiking in Wales and another time he helped the coast guard when they had to rescue two children in a dinghy that had gone too far out to sea. I think this programme was an extremely engaging way to get children interested in geography - some of the skills I used for my GCSEs were initially acquired from certain episodes of Barnaby Bear!

5. Berenstain Bears (Berenstain Bears) - I never actually saw the television series, but I definitely remember the original books, which were one of the many tools my Mum used when she taught me how to read. My favourite one was "The Berenstain Bears And The Missing Dinosaur Bone". I often used to imagine helping the bears solve the mystery inside the creepy museum.

6. The bear under the stairs (Dear Bear) - Dear Bear, created by the fabulous author-illustrator Joanna Harrison, is the story of a young girl named Katie with a terrible fear that a viscious bear might live in the cupboard under the stairs. To help her overcome her fear, her parents suggest she writes letters to this bear (I still can't believe what a clever idea this is!) and gradually Katie becomes friends with him, until eventually she is brave enough to look inside the closet and finds a cuddly teddy inside whom she has a tea party with. I loved this story so much that when I was little I used to write letters to the imaginary bear under my stairs and he always responded!

7. Sarah/Louise/Charles/Robert/William (Teddybears) - This droll books series was made into a television show for ITV, which had many differences to the original stories, but never any less witty humour. My favourite episode has always been the one where Charles tries to read a ghost story to Robert and William, not realising that Louise has overheard and has decided to pretend to be a ghost herself. The best bit had to be when Charles got to a really scary bit in his book and Louise made a ghostly, "Whooooo..." from behind the door, only to make Charles jump out of his skin and yell, "OH, MY FURRY FEET!"

8. Baby Bear (Whatever Next!) - I must have read this book so many times when I was small. Jill Murphy, also the creator of the Worst Witch, wrote this story about a young bear's imaginary trip to the moon before bathtime that never fails to entertain it's young audience.

9. Mr Bear and family (Mr Bear) - This has to be one of the funniest, most honest children's book series I have ever read. My favourite has to be "Mr Bear's Holiday" about the Bear family's painfully amusing camping trip that results in a catalogue of disasters, including a cow get stuck in the tent!

10. Little Bear and Big Bear (Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?) - An absolutely beautiful story about trust that brings peace whenever I read it, written by the phonomenal Martin Waddell, who has written many other oustanding picture books such as Rosie's Babies, The Big Big Sea, Farmer Duck and - my definite favourite - Once There Were Giants, a wonderful story about a girl's growth from a baby to a mother herself.

Original meme by