The Bear That Wasn't

by Frank Tashlin

"A fable for grownups that will be fun for children. Sit down with the book and get your own bearings." — New York Herald Tribune

With the first signs of approaching winter, the Bear's thoughts naturally turn to a cozy cave and a long snooze till spring. But when he awakes a few months later, he is surprised to find himself smack dab in the middle of a sprawling industrial complex! To make matters even worse, every one he meets keeps insisting that he's not even a bear--just a silly man who needs a shave and wears a fur coat.

Written by the beloved director of such classic screwball comedies as The Girl Can't Help It and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, this wryly humorous tale has long been an underground favorite with readers of all ages and attitudes. Poking fun at a fast-paced, high-tech society, it follows the Bear's repeated attempts of finding out just where he belongs. On an assembly line? In a zoo? At the circus? No one seems to know for sure.

Tashlin's 46 delightfully original and whimsical illustrations add to the charm of this unique and entertaining fable.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, Humor, Classics, Fantasy

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Frank Tashlin, born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, also known as Tish Tash or Frank Tash (February 19, 1913 – May 5, 1972) was an American animator, screenwriter, and film director.

He wrote five books: "The Bear That Wasn't" (1941), "How The Circus Learned to Smile" (1949, "The Possum That Didn't" (1950) and "The World That Isn't" (1951) and a self-help cartooning book "How to Create Cartoons" (1952). He even briefly returned to animation in 1967, adapting one of his childrens books "The Bear That Wasn't" into an MGM animated short, directed by his former colleague Chuck Jones.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what I think about this book.

My late aunt had two copies (a very worn 1st edition, and this 1981 Dover reprint), so it must've meant something to her.

The blurb claims it is very funny, but I found it depressing. I'll have to ponder for a bit.

[✿◕‿◕✿Pao · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the perfect case of two ppl reading a book and getting complete different messages from it or at least that's what I gather when reading the reviews for this children's book. This was one of my first books I read on my own as a child, and it holds a special place in my heart. to me the message that conveys is to be true to who you are, like the bear regardless how many times the bear heard that he was a silly man that needed a shave and wore a fur coat at the end of it all he knew he was a bear. It puzzles me how ppl think this book is about environmentalism O_o, like I said above guess it shows perfectly how two can read the same book and a complete different message from it.

[Adriana Scarpin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank Tashlin era um gênio em diversas frentes: cinema, animação e literatura.
Esse pequeno clássico O Urso que não Era (saiu no Brasil pela Boitempo) é uma pequena grande fábula sobre a identidade na sociedade capitalista, atemporal e significativo também virou curta de animação pelas mãos do igualmente grande Chuck Jones.

[Daniela Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adoro este libro por lo que representa para mí y mi infancia. Me lo regalaron para mi cumpleaños de este año, luego de encontrarlo en una caja con muchos otros libros en una feria. Apenas lo vi, me emocioné y me puse a llorar. Sabía que alguna vez lo había leído, sólo que no podía recordar cuándo. Tampoco lo recuerdo, pero al volver a leer esta historia volvieron a aparecer esas imágenes del oso en mi memoria, ese oso a quien los hombres intentan convencer que es un hombre, tonto, sin afeitar y con un abrigo de piel.

Siento que este libro es la metáfora de la alineación, del uso del poder para convertir a alguien en una cosa que no lo es. Es la crítica a estar atrapado en el sistema, convirtiéndote en un número de una masa informe. Es lo que somos muchos, es lo que nos dicen que debemos ser, porque debes encajar. No hay espacio para la diferencia, por más que así te sientas. Pero siempre, en el fondo de nuestro corazón, está la libertad de ser quienes somos. A veces, la experiencia y estrés de la alienación es la que nos da la fuerza para volver a nuestro centro, entrar en nuestra cuevita y mirar hacia adentro.

[Soňa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tak ako príbeh o vačici, aj tento príbeh opisuje obyčajného a spokojného medveďa, ktorému sa svet počas jednej zimy obráti hore nohami. A to len preto, lebo ľudia majú vlastné predstavy podľa, ktorých má fungovať svet.

[Lobstergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasing line drawings illustrate the tale of a bear who hibernates and awakens to find that a factory has been built on top of his cave, and he is told to get to work because he's not a bear, just a man in a fur coat. He tries to protest, in succession, to the General Manager, Third VP, Second VP, First VP, and President - each of whom has increasing numbers of secretaries (with large round butts and Barbara Stanwyck hairdos), wastepaper baskets, telephones, and increasingly extravagant office decor. Anti-bureaucratic, anti-industrialist message.

[Pedro Fernández · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este es uno de los primeros libros que leí en mi vida, y me da gusto descubrir que va cambiando conforme uno adquiere edad. Esta fábula moral sobre un oso al que le dicen que no debería ser un oso deja al lector en un momento de reflexión sobre el "ser" y el "deber ser". Recomiendo este gran libro a niños y adultos. Se lee rápido, y se recuerda toda la vida.

[Berenice Schiele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Les ha pasado que aman un libro tanto que los acompaña por (casi) toda su vida? O que a veces se encuentran pensando en el mientras van al trabajo? Que lo buscan en todas las librerías para regalarlo a sus amigos y familia?

Bueno, ese libro para mí es “El Oso que no lo era”.

Lo leí por primera vez a los seis años (aprox), y recuerdo claramente amarlo con todo mi ser. Las ilustraciones son hermosas, el uso de la caligrafía es perfecto y la historia es una oda de auto-descubrimiento.

Básicamente “El oso que no lo era” es una fábula, que trata de cuán fácil es perderse en el mundo en que vivimos, y cómo no tienes que creerle a otros cuando te dicen quién eres (porque los otros suelen no saber nada de ti), pero tampoco tienes que creerte a ti mismo todo el tiempo (porque puedes estar equivocado).

Habla de como la sociedad intenta hacerte olvidar tu verdadera naturaleza, habla de estaciones del año, habla de encontrarte a ti mismo y amarte a pesar de lo que diga el mundo.
Es un libro hermoso sin importar la edad.

Amor eterno.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

El protagonista del presente cuento crítico es un oso, que una vez ha despertado de hibernar, se encuentra que el hombre ha construido encima de su paraje salvaje. Buscando la salida, se encuentra con dicha factoría, y allí lo recluyen y someten, para que forme parte del equipo de operarios.
Peculiar y chocante historia que denuncia la alienación personal, mediante el lavado de cerebro, la búsqueda de la identidad y su reencuentro. Curioso, tratándose de un librito infantil de mediados del siglo pasado (aunque hay que reconocer que el creador trabajaba en la Warner).

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeing a lot of interpretations of this book centering on identity (understandable considering the current social climate) but more pointedly than that I found it to be an excellent fable on the dangers of getting dissuaded by general consensus. In the age of echo chambers and so many angry voices on social media, it's easy to get caught up in whatever wave the populous trends, even when you know the truth.

But more importantly...it's a very funny story you can read to kids, thanks to director Frank Tashlin's absurdist sense of humor and wonderful drawings. It's the sort of children's book where I can just study the illustrations over and over on their own.

[RoseB612 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Po Vačice, která se nesmála trošku zklamání, ale když o tom přemýšlím trošku s odstupem, tak zase ne až tak velké.

Tématikou podobné Vačici, ale tady je zajímavý i motiv druhých medvědů, kteří mají jen své omezené vnímání reality a nejsou schopni (nebo ochotni?) vnímat medvědovu identitu.

Graficky je hodně zajímavý motiv postupného progresu v továrně - s každou vyšší funkcí se proměňuje i kancelář a je to propracované do nejmenších detailů. Stejně tak jsou skvělé komplexní kresby, např. ZOO atd. - platí tedy to samé jako u Vačice.

Určitě by bylo lepší si dát mezi Vačicí a Medvědem delší časový rozestup než je přečíst po sobě během jedné hodiny, takže se k tomu ještě někdy vrátím.

Kontext: Pustila jsem si na Youtube i film - ale knížka je rozhodně lepší.

První věta: "Byl jednou, přesně řečeno v úterý, jeden medvěd a ten stál na kraji vysokého lesa a díval se na nebe."

Poslední věta: "Ne, skutečně to nebyl hlupák, a nebyl to ani hloupý medvěd."

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un libro que nos enseña a no escuchar lo que dice el resto, o sea, que el resto no nos defina porque cada uno/a sabe quien verdaderamente es.

2025: Creo que es la segunda vez que lo leo y la reflexión de esta lectura es que cuando las personas te van diciendo una "verdad" o "algo que creen de tu persona", lo repiten constantemente hasta que comienzas a creer que esas cualidades que ven en tí pueden ser verdades. Es por esto, que hay que tener cuidado con nuestras palabras en especial cuando hablamos con les más peques.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skvělá knížka. Útlá a plná obrázků, které vyprávějí víc než text. Trochu smutné, ale myslím, že docela nesmrtelné podobenství lidské společnosti. Zaujmou vás ilustrace, však byl taky autor jedním z prvních hollywoodských animátorů, zaujme vás přesah - a i když je to jen o pár stránkách, je to naprosto boží :-)

[Lili Torok · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite children's books I read as an adult. Fantastically funny with more and more detail in the illustration with every subsequent read. Your heart will sink and then lift together absurdly as you follow the adventures of a bear who everyone thinks is a silly man who needs to shave.

[Valentina Coghlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un relato cortito ilustrado dirigido a un público infantil, pero con excelentes mensajes internos sobre la identidad personal y el autoconocimiento.
Pienso que es un relato muy bien escrito, con mucha fluidez y excelentes ilustraciones que harán que hasta los adultos se encanten con la historia, sobre un oso que fue puesto en tela de juicio y terminó creyendo que no era un oso.

[Denisse Gomita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un cuento fabuloso que te muestra como la sociedad puede llegar a exigirte cumplir un rol a pesar de saber que no lo eres.
Estaría perfecto si

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trop mignon ! super drôle...

[Kübra Atademir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ayı, ayı olduğunu biliyorsa yeterlidir aksi halde her teyit gerçekliği sorgulatan sanrıya dönüşür.

Okuması keyifli, çizgi roman sevdiğimi keşfettiren kitaptı.💝

[Lenka Letadlo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Po přečtení vačice se mi do medvěda nechtělo, bála jsem se, jak to bude zase temné, ale v tomhle případě mi to vyznělo naštěstí jen absurdně :)

[plachá srnka · Rating 5 out of 5]

príbeh s krásnou myšlienkou.
(povinné čítanie pre každého)

[Violeta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amé este libro. Muy simbólico y filosófico, pero además nuy divertido!! Graciosísimo. Mis estudiantes estaban intrigados y no querian que nada interrumpiera su lectura.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank Tashlin is usually remembered as being a Warner Bros. cartoon director during its brilliant World War II period, and as the director of several Jerry Lewis pictures and other '50s films full of sight gags and cartoon-like pacing. It's a shame that his 1946 book "The Bear That Wasn't" isn't better remembered. Much like Shel Silverstein's well-loved "The Giving Tree," Tashlin's book is a simple fable with deep messages that masquerades as a children's story.

The story of a bear who wakes to find himself in a factory built atop his cave while he was hibernating, then told that he's not a bear at all but rather a factory worker, Tashlin's book can be interpreted many ways. Some readers may find an allegory about the individual's plight in a bureaucratic and mechanized world, others may see a warning about the destruction of nature and natural impulses, and still others may see a lesson about how a lie repeated often enough becomes accepted as the truth, as Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels wrote just a few years before this book was first published.

I would venture to say that almost everyone, no matter his or her age, can relate to Tashlin's story. All of us at some point in our lives -- and perhaps in the past several days -- has been told by a boss or other authority figure some variation of "You're not a Bear. You're a silly man who needs a shave and wears a fur coat."

Aside from the story, the illustrations in "The Bear That Wasn't" are brilliant. One should pay special attention to how each of the factory's successive vice presidents is depicted. The higher the vice president's position, the more secretaries, wastebaskets and telephones -- as well as lines under the eyes -- he has.

The 1967 cartoon version of "The Bear That Wasn't," by Tashlin's former Warner Bros. colleague Chuck Jones, is enjoyable too, but loses some of the book's best visual gags and the simplicity of its language. It also trades the book's wonderfully clean, black-and-white line drawings for what's sometimes called cartoon modern style. I'm a big fan of cartoon modern, but don't think it serves "The Bear That Wasn't" as well as the book's original illustrations do. Also, by 1967, the style was getting a bit long in the tooth, I suspect.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a child and loved it, so when it was reprinted in paperback, I had to buy it for my grandsons. The story is a bit outdated, but the sense of trying to be true to oneself remains. A bear, noticing that fall has come, retreats to a cave to hibernate. Over the winter a factory is built right over his cave. When he wakes and leaves the cave he finds himself on the factory floor, where everybody tells him he is not a bear, but a funny man in a fur coat who needs a shave. Will he cave into pressure and believe the others or will he be able to find out his true nature once again?
The original illustrations are wonderful.

[Sinem Gülen · Rating 5 out of 5]

İnsan olmak diğer canlılar için o kadar büyük bir lanetmiş ki kişiye kendini ve ne olduğunu unuttururmuş. Bu incecik çocuk kitabı (aslında tam çocuk kitabı sayılmaz) bana bunu bir kez daha hatırlattı. Bir ayı olduğunuzu ve kış uykusuna yattığınız mağaranın üstüne bir fabrika yapıldığını ve uyandığınızda eskiden koşup oynadığınız ormanın yok edildiğini gördüğünüzü düşünün. Tüm bu yıkım yetmezmiş gibi bir de orada çalışan insanların sizin bir ayı değil kürk manto giyinmiş budala bir adam olduğunuzu söylediğini düşünün. Ayısınız ama ayı değilsiniz.
Bu minicik çocuk kitabını okurken insanın huzurlu ve mutlu olan her şeyi nasıl yok ettiğini görebilirsiniz ayı olmayan bir ayıyla birlikte.

[Ondra Král · Rating 2 out of 5]

Po skvělé Vačici co se nesmála mě tohle zklamalo. Celou knihu se prakticky řeší totéž a v určitých pasážích to Tashlin vyhání až do absurdna. To je sice fajn, ale méně je někdy více a ke konci to na mě působilo už otravně. Zároveň mi závěr přišel takový nijaký. Na rozdíl od Vačice tu autor nemá tak propracovanou kresbu, takže ani v tomhle ohledu kniha úplně neobstojí (ale třeba vykreslení jednotlivých kanceláří pobavilo).

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pequeño relato infantil, con ilustraciones para entender mejor la lectura.

Aunque es un libro para niños, la historia te hace reflexionar sobre los cambios que nosotros los humanos generamos en nuestro entorno y como podemos ser tan "ciegos" y no ver que está provocando esos cambios

También toca el tema de creer/confiar en ti apesar de que los demás te digan lo contrario.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids and I love reading this one... the simplicity and repetition of the story and the illustrations make it appealing to children, but the underlying theme (how unreasonable a bureaucratic system can become) will speak to adults as well and provide fodder for discussion as children grow up. It's accessible and fun for early readers, and the humor has multi-generational appeal.

[Merve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gün boyu evinin üstüne fabrika yapılan, kutuplarda evleri eriyerek yok olan, yuvaları yanarak kül olup üstüne otel dikilen ayıları düşündüm... İnsanın varlığının onların yok olmasına tekabül etmesinden ve bunu umursayan bir avuç insanın gücünün bir seyleri değiştirmeye yetmemesinden daha vahim çok az şey var bu dünyada.

[Pooja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looks can be deceiving. This is as much a book for adults as it is for children. Its about knowing who you are, about not letting the world determine your identity and nature. Its about being true to your self.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it was a lot better story than I thought it would be. In fact, children should enjoy its repetitiousness and cute illustrations. It makes a great read-aloud (I tried it). Recommended.