What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

A children's book I remember reading in about the 1980s. You had to stick
the bears in holes on the pages according to the story and give them
things to hold, etc. At one point they had to hide amongst the corn, and
there were drinks and cakes to put on the table.

I only remember it was something to do with a surprise, or secret for Dad
or something. There was a mum and dad bear, some kids, and the
grandparents who they went to visit. It was summer, they were playing
outside, i think grandma made them lunch and they had it on the table
outside, I remember finding the right cups to fit in the slots on the
table very clearly. It was just a normal sized book I think, but maybe
with stuck together pages and slots in various locations - i think you had
things like the cups etc that were paper/card and had little tabs on the
bottom that would go into slots in various places on the pages?

Oh yeah it had something to do with a letter. Some of their hands had
little slots underneath so you could slide this letter into their hand i
think? Also there might have been a baby bear? I vageuly recall having
to try and slot the baby into the highchair and it crying or making a mess
or something in the story.

The only thing I clearly remember is having to slot the bears into the
cornfield so they could hide.

Bump!

Were these real bears or teddy bears? Do you think the author was Australian? (I noticed your location is Australia.)

This type of book sounds so familiar. Sarah, do you remember if the little tabbed items were perforated (like a paper doll book) and then punched out by the child?

Did the book have a place to store the tabbed items once you were done reading the book?

I think they were real bears but a bit cartoony and anthropomorphic (i.e. wearing clothes, sitting up at the table etc). Yes there's a high chance it was an Australian book as that's where I grew up, possibly published in the 80s or 90s.

Yes I think there was definitely a pocket at the end of the book to store them! I can't remember whether they were perforated, I don't think so...

Sarah, are you still looking for this book or did you find it?

Still looking!

Bump!

Hi Sarah, I had a book like this as a child (sometime in the 80s), but it was set at a school. It was called Baxter's Bad Day: with Punch-out Characters, Clothes & Props and it was great fun. I thought there might be other books in the 'Read-and-Play-Storybook' series that might match yours but I can only find one other, which was a Cinderella retelling. But is this the sort of book you're looking for?

From the same collection SBC mentioned there's Papa Bear's Party by Jean Marzollo. Can't find the book on Goodreads but here's the Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Papa-Bears-Par...

Cool, good find, Mai! That looks promising.

THAT IS IT!! TEN PLUS YEARS LATER! You guys I am so excited, what a thrilling result after all this time!! Thank you so much!

Sarah, just to confirm, is your book "Papa Bear's Party" or Baxter's Bad Day: with Punch-out Characters, Clothes & Props (both by Jean Marzollo)?

Papa Bear's Party.

Yay, that's great! :)

Yay! That's terrific.

I think we have a new record...

Just so I can find this again. 2nd longest time solve.

ETA: link for book.

Papa Bear's Party