A Dream Mother: Maternal Function and Mentalization in Little Bear

This essay explores how the childred’s book Little Bear, written by Else Homelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, depicts the emotional and cognitive experience of developing a sense of self. In its portrayal of an idealized mother-child interaction the book illustrates the growth of the capacity for mentalization, mediated through fantasy, in the context of a secure attachment. Necessary in childhood for the consolidation of a coherent identity, this process is similar to the situation in psychoanalysis, where the transference offers a transitional space between psychic reality and “real life” and where the safety of the relationship is a playground for practicing a new skill.