Emily (Little Bear)
von ari webb-bryantEmily is a dark-haired girl who lives in the forest with her grandmother, Granny.[1] She is Little Bear's best friend.[2] Emily's most prized possession is her doll, Lucy.[3][4][5] Emily is usually very kind and generous,[6][7][8] although she is sometimes bossy or rude.[9][10][11]
Emily's daytime attire consists of a knee-length, blue-green dress with short, puffy light blue sleeves and dark blue-green trim; a white undershirt with a dark blue ribbon; knee-length, beige pantalets; dark blue-green socks; a blue-green headband; and ankle-length brown boots.[12] While swimming in the summer, she sometimes wears a one-piece, red and black–striped swimsuit.[6] At nighttime, she wears a long-sleeved, floor-length, pink nightgown with a blue bow and frilly white trim.[13] On her seventh birthday, her attire was in the same style as usual, but colored in pink and purple.
Meeting Little Bear and his friends
One summer, Emily and her parents went camping in bear country. But one day, Emily got lost. While looking for the river where she and her parents were camping, she met Little Bear. He had been taking in the view from the top of a tree, but came down to go home for lunch. He agreed to show Emily the way to the river. Emily introduced Little Bear to her doll, Lucy, and the three set off. Little Bear escorted Emily along a shortcut to the river. Along the way, he asked what was in Emily's basket. She told him there were cookies in the basket, and offered him some.
The two came to a stone wall, which they climbed up onto an over. They ran along, then somersaulted down a hill. Coming to a stream, Emily became worried that Lucy would fall in. Little Bear offered to hold her for Emily. Emily agreed. Little Bear, Lucy, and Emily crossed the stream, then followed it to the river, where Emily saw her parents. Her father was fishing, and Little Bear told her that his father was a fisherman. Emily invited Little Bear to come down to the campsite, but he declined, claiming to hear his mother calling him. They said goodbye, and Little Bear agreed to come back and play some time.[14]
One day, Little Bear invited Emily to a picnic so she could meet his friends. She suggested that they might not want a stranger at the picnic, but Little Bear disagreed. Soon, they arrived, and Little Bear introduced Emily to Owl, Hen, and Cat. Then, Duck arrived, babysitting Mother Duck's ducklings. Emily gently picked up Little Peep, one of the ducklings, remarking how soft ducklings are. Emily introduced herself to Duck, and the picnic began with a game of croquet. after the game, Duck realized Little Peep was missing. Following a brief search, Emily suggested on Lucy's behalf that they should consider where they would hide. Little Bear realized that if he were a duckling, he would hide in the water. Soon, they found Little Peep.[15]
A summer in bear country
At one point during the summer, there was a long stretch of time during which there was no rain. Therefore, Emily and her friends decided to put on a play to bring the rain. The play began with Brave One (played by Little Bear) and Princess Satiwah (played by Emily) lamenting the wilted state of the corn plants. At the end of the play, the Great Cloud (Cat) was supposed to hear their pleas for rain and command them to dance. Then the rest of the cast would preform their rain dance, and Cat would dump a bucket of water, as if it was rain. But due to Cat's annoyance at only having one line, a line to be delivered from backstage, he instead said, Somersaults! Backflips! Stand on your heads! Despite this, Emily kept the show going, leading the rest of the cast in their rehearsed rain dance. After the dance, just as Cat dumped the bucket of water, it began to rain. Emily wondered aloud to Little Bear whether or not they had really made it rain, and Little Bear responded that he did not know, but that he knew he was getting soaked.[16]
Summer ending
Emily, Little Bear, Cat, Duck, Hen, and Owl sitting under a tree
Emily, Little Bear, Cat, Duck, Hen, and Owl sitting under a tree
As summer approached its end, Emily became sad. She would be going back to school soon and would have to leave her friends. Emily, Little Bear, Cat, Duck, Hen, and Owl were talking about all the fun they had over the summer, especially at Hop Frog Pond, when Little Bear suggested they go there again. Emily and the others all agreed this was a good idea, so they set out for Hop Frog Pond. Upon their arrival, Owl gave Emily a water lily and Duck wrote an E in the mud for Emily. Emily thanked them both, before going into the water with Little Bear. There, they met three baby otters. The otters showed Little Bear and Emily a mud slide, which caught Duck's attention. Soon, everyone had tried the mud slide, and they all loved it.
Emily and her friends relaxing after a fun day at Hop Frog Pond
Emily and her friends relaxing after a fun day at Hop Frog Pond
As Emily and her friends relaxed after a fun day at Hop Frog Pond, Little Bear saw an acorn and asked her what kind of tree it came from. Emily told him that it came from an oak tree. She told him that oak trees could live to be one thousand years old. Little Bear gave Emily the acorn to remind her of all the good times they'd had at Hop Frog Pond. Emily planted it so that it could grow into a big oak tree. When Duck asked if it would be grown by next summer, Emily said it would likely take longer than that, and Little Bear lamented that next summer could not come soon enough. Emily said this was because they were all friends. They hugged.[6]
Back to school
Little Bear, Emily, and Mother Bear at the table
Little Bear, Emily, and Mother Bear at the table
Emily, Little Bear, and Lucy were playing school in Little Bear's room. When Mother Bear came in and offered them some cake, Little Bear protested, explaining that they were in school. However, Emily told him that they did have snacks in school, and thus could go and have some cake. While bringing lemonade to the table, Mother Bear asked if Emily was excited to go back to school, to which she responded that she was. When Mother Bear offered Little Bear lemonade, he declined, saying that lemonade was for summer, which was over. He predicted it would rain the next day, by which time Emily would be gone. Without touching his cake, Little Bear got up and left, bringing Emily with him.
Little Bear and Emily playing in the sand
Little Bear and Emily playing in the sand
As the two friends made sandcastles together, Emily tried to comfort Little Bear, telling him she wished she could stay, but she had to go home for the school year. She said that school was fun, and you learned how to read, how to write, and much more. Little Bear was not cheered by this. He left the sandbox and went inside. There, Emily told him that she would be back next summer, but Little Bear said that next summer was a long time away. Mother Bear said that next summer was not so far away, and that Emily would return with lots of stories about school. Emily added that Lucy would too. Little Bear had not realized that Lucy would be going to school as well.
Little Bear writing a letter to Emily
Little Bear writing a letter to Emily
When Father Bear came in the front door, he remarked that there was a storm on the way. Little Bear exclaimed that he was right and that it would rain. Father Bear said that he should bring Emily home before it started. Before leaving, Emily gave Little Bear a fountain pen. After thanking Emily for the pen, Little Bear ran into his room and came back with a toy boat which he gave to Emily. She thanked him for it and bade him farewell before leaving with Father Bear. By wintertime, Little Bear had learned to write with his new pen and was able to write a letter to Emily.[7]
Emily and Lucy visiting Little Bear on a weekend
Emily and Lucy visiting Little Bear on a weekend
One weekend day in autumn, Emily visited bear country. She went to Little Bear's house and found Little Bear sleeping in a leaf pile. In his sleep, he said how he wished that Emily was there. Emily then woke Little Bear up, telling him that she was already there. Emily then asked Little Bear what he was doing, and he told her that he was raking leaves and then jumping in them. Little Bear and Emily both jumped into the leaf pile. Before long, Little Bear drifted off to sleep again. As Little Bear slept, Emily decided to finish raking up the leaves for him. Eventually, Little Bear woke up again after having a marvelous dream.[17]
Returning to bear country
Meeting Mitzi
One day, Emily was skipping rope with Little Bear, Cat, Tutu, Duck, and Owl. Emily's turn was taking a long time because of her skill at skipping rope. As she never missed a step, no one else could get a turn. Suddenly, Mitzi jumped down from the trees, surprising everyone. Little Bear introduced himself and his friends to Mitzi, and Emily invited her to play skipping with them. Mitzi agreed, and because she was the guest, she got to choose the next rhyme. So Mitzi chanted: Roses are red, violets are blue, here's a rhyme, just for you: I see London, I see France, I see Emily's underpants, making Emily miss a step.
Next, Duck went up to skip, but Mitzi made her miss a step too, calling her face a scream. Then, Mitzi began to skip, chanting: Aca-baca soda cracker, aca-baca boo. Little Bear continued the rhyme, adding: Mitzi is a monkey, before Emily cut in, adding, And Mitzi is rude. Duck agreed that Mitzi was rude, and Mitzi decided to leave. But as Mitzi walked off, Emily and Duck both apologized, and Mitzi said she was sorry as well. In the end, Mitzi decided to stay in bear country.[10]
Playing games
Picnicking with friends
Autumn in bear country
Winter in bear country
On the winter solstice, Little Bear and his parents hosted a dinner at their house for their friends and family. When Emily, Granny, and Tutu, along with Owl, Hen, Duck, and Cat, arrived, Little Bear, Mother and Father Bear, and Grandmother and Grandfather Bear were outside singing a winter song and decorating a tree with lanterns and food. Little Bear greeted the new arrivals, wishing them a happy winter solstice. Emily and her companions responded in kind. Then, they all had fun in the snow. They sledded, they had a snowball fight, and they made snow angels. Soon, it was time to eat. Everyone came indoors to feast on their winter solstice dinner. After the meal, they sat by the fire and sang.[18]
Dramatic play with friends
One day, Little Bear picked a bunch of flowers for Emily. As she made the flowers into a necklace, they discussed what to play. Little Bear suggested they could pretend to be Mother and Father Bear, but Emily said they could not be married, because she was a princess, and only a prince could marry a princess. Emily explained that only a king could make Little Bear a prince. Owl took on the role of the king and quested Little Bear with retrieving a pot of gold from a dragon. When Duck learned that Little Bear was going on a quest to become a prince and marry a princess, she threw herself into the role of a beautiful princess under an evil spell. Emily explained that she, not Duck, was the princess. Duck was annoyed that Emily always got to be the princess, but volunteered to be the dragon instead, uttering a screeching roar, ending in a cough. Duck walked off sadly.
Owl handed Little Bear a magic walking stick and Emily gave him her necklace of flowers and a cookie from Lucy. Little Bear set out on his quest, along the way giving Hen his flowers, Tutu half his cookie, and Cat his walking stick. Finally arriving at the dragon's cave (a hollow in the base of a tree) he heard the dragon's roar from within. Little Bear rushed back to Emily, Lucy, Owl, Cat, Tutu, and Hen, only to find that the dragon had really only been Duck. Yet, despite not finding the pot of gold, Little Bear was decreed prince for his generosity. However, Emily had to go home, so they did not marry that day.[19]
Solving mysteries
Spending time with Little Bear
Emily often spent time playing with Little Bear. They would sometimes fly kites,[20] have a tea party,[21] or fish.[4] One day, Little Bear and Emily made cupcakes at Little Bear's house.[22]
