“Yes,” said Little Bear, “I am making Birthday Soup. Will you stay and have some?”

“Oh, yes, thank you,” said Hen. And she sat down to wait.

Next, Duck came in.

“Happy Birthday, Little Bear,” said Duck. “My goodness! Something smells good here. Is it in the big black pot?”

“Thank you, Duck,” said Little Bear. “Yes, I am making Birthday Soup. Will you stay and have some with us?”

“Thank you, yes, thank you,” said Duck. And she sat down to wait.

Next, Cat came in.

“Happy Birthday, Little Bear,” he said.

“Thank you, Cat,” said Little Bear. “I hope you like Birthday Soup. I am making Birthday Soup.”

Cat said, “Can you really cook? If you can really make it, I will eat it.”

“Good,” said Little Bear. “The Birthday Soup is hot, so we must eat it now. We cannot wait for Mother Bear. I do not know where she is.”

“Now, here is some soup for you, Hen,” said Little Bear. “And here is some soup for you, Duck, and here is some soup for you, Cat, and here is some soup for me. Now we can all have some Birthday Soup.”

Cat saw Mother Bear at the door, and said, “Wait, Little Bear. Do not eat yet. Shut your eyes and say ‘One, two, three.’” Little Bear shut his eyes and said, “One, two, three.”

Mother Bear came in with a big cake.

“Now, look,” said Cat.

“Oh, Mother Bear,” said Little Bear, “what a big beautiful Birthday Cake! Birthday Soup is good to eat, but not as good as Birthday Cake. I am so happy you did not forget.”

“Yes, Happy Birthday, Little Bear!” said Mother Bear. “This Birthday Cake is a surprise for you. I never forgot your birthday, and I never will!”

It was late. Mother Bear came to kiss her Little Bear good night.

“Little Bear,” said Mother Bear. “You are not asleep.”

“No, Mother,” said Little Bear. “I can’t sleep.”

“Why not?” asked Mother Bear.

“I’m wishing,” said Little Bear.

“What are you wishing for?” asked Mother Bear.

“I wish that I could sit on a cloud and fly around the world,” said Little Bear.

“You can’t have that wish, my Little Bear,” said Mother Bear.

“Then I wish that I could find a Viking boat,” said Little Bear. “And the Vikings would say, ‘Come with us! Come with us! Here we go! Away! Away!’”

“You can’t have that wish, my Little Bear,” said Mother Bear.

“Then I wish I could find a tunnel to China,” said Little Bear. “I would go to China and come back with chopsticks for you.”

“You can’t have that wish, my Little Bear,” said Mother Bear.

“Then I wish I had a big red car,” said Little Bear. “I would go fast, fast. I would come to a big castle. A princess would come out and say, ‘Have some cake, Little Bear,’ and I would have some.”

“You can’t have that wish, my Little Bear,” said Mother Bear.

“Then,” said Little Bear, “I wish a Mother Bear would come to me and say, ‘Would you like to hear a story?’”

“Well, maybe you can have that wish. That is just a little wish,” said Mother Bear.

“Thank you, Mother,” said Little Bear. “That was what I really wanted all the time.”

“What story would you like to hear?” asked Mother Bear.

“Tell me about me,” said Little Bear. “Tell me about the things I did.”

“Well,” started Mother Bear, “once you played in the snow, and you wanted something to put on.”

“Oh, yes. That was fun!” cried Little Bear. “Tell me something more about me.”

“Well,” said Mother Bear, “once you put on your space helmet and played going to the moon.”

“That was fun, too!” cried Little Bear. “Tell me something more about me.”

“Well,” said Mother Bear, “once you thought that you had no birthday cake, so you made Birthday Soup.”

“Oh, that was fun!” cried Little Bear. “And then you came with the cake. You always make me happy.”

Mother Bear smiled and looked at her Little Bear. “And now you can make me happy, too,” she said.

“How?” asked Little Bear.

“You can go to sleep,” said Mother Bear.

And Little Bear shut his eye and went to sleep.

“Little Bear,” said Mother Bear, “can you be my fisherman?”

“Yes, I can,” said Little Bear.

“Good,” said Mother Bear. “Will you go to the river? Will you catch a fish for us?”

“Yes, I will,” said Little Bear.

So Little Bear went to the river, and there he saw Owl.

Owl was sitting on a log. “Hello, Little Bear,” said Owl.

“Hello, Owl,” said Little Bear. “Father Bear is not home. He is fishing on the ocean. But Mother Bear wants a fish now, so I need to catch one.”

“Good,” said Owl. “Catch one!”

Little Bear fished. “I have one!” he said. “Is it too little?”

“It looks good to me,” said Owl.

“Well,” said Little Bear, “Father can catch big fish. He sails in a big boat, too.”

Owl said, “Some day you will be a big bear. You will catch big fish, and you will sail in a boat like Father Bear.”

“You know what?” said Little Bear. “We can play. The log can be a boat. I will be Father Bear. You can be you. And we are fishing.”

“Where we are fishing?” asked Owl.

“On the ocean,” said Little Bear.

“All right,” said Owl.

“Hooray!” said Little Bear. “See what I have?”

“What is it?” asked Owl.

“An octopus,” said Little Bear.

“Oh,” said Owl. “But see what I have?”

“What is it?” asked Little Bear.

“A whale,” said Owl.

“But a whale is too big,” said Little Bear.

“This is a little whale,” said Owl.

Just then Mother Bear came. “Where is the fish?” she asked.

Little Bear laughed, “How about an octopus?”

“An octopus?” said Mother Bear.

“Well, then,” said Owl, “how about a little whale?”

“A whale?” said Mother Bear. “No, thank you. No whale.”

“Then how about this little fish?” said Little Bear.

“Yes, thank you,” said Mother Bear, “this is just what I want.”

Little Bear said, “You will see. When I am as big as Father Bear, I will catch a real octopus.”

“Yes, and sail in a real boat,” said Owl.

“I know it,” said Mother Bear.

Owl said, “Little Bear fishes very well.”

“Oh, yes,” said Mother Bear. “He fishes really well. He is a real fisherman. Just like his father.”

Little Bear sat in the top of a high tree. He looked at the wide, wide world.

He saw the green fields. He saw the river. And far, far away he saw the blue sea.

He saw the tops of trees. He saw his house. He saw Mother Bear.

He could hear the song of the wind. And he could feel the wind on his fur, on his eyes, on his little black nose. He shut his eyes and let the wind brush him.

He opened his eyes and saw two little squirrels. “Play with us,” they said.

“No time,” said Little Bear. “I need to go home for lunch.”

He began to climb down and saw four little birds. “Look at us,” they said, “we can fly!”

“I can fly, too,” said Little Bear. “But I always fly down. I cannot fly up.”