You're All My Favorite

By: Sam McBratney

Once upon a time

there was a mother bear,

a father bear,

and three baby bears.

A first baby bear.

A second baby bear.

And a third baby bear.

Whoever tucked them in at night 

always said the same thing to them:

"You are the most wonderful baby bears

in the whole wide world!"

One night, after Mommy Bear 

had tucked them in, and after she had said,

"You are the most wonderful baby bears

in the whole wide world,"

the baby bears began to wonder.

"But how do you know?" they asked

their mommy bear.  "How do you know

we are the most wonderful baby bears

in the whole wide world?"

"Because your daddy told me,"

said Mommy Bear.

"When your daddy saw you on the night you were born, he said - 

and I remember it very well - he said,

'Those are the nicest baby bears

I have ever seen.

They are the nicest baby bears 

anyone has ever seen!'"

That was a good answer.

The three baby bears snuggled

down as content as could be.

But one day, the first baby bear

began to think.  He wondered if the

other two bears were nicer than he was.

They had patches, after all,

and he did not.  Maybe his mommy

really really liked patches.

And the second baby bear began to wonder.

Maybe Daddy loves the other two

more than me, she thought.

They were boy bears, after all,

and she was not.

And the third baby bear 

began to worry.

I'm only the littlest, he thought.

Everybody's bigger than me!

So that night the three baby bears asked their daddy bear,

"Which one of us do you like the most?

Who is your favorite?

We can't all be the best."

"Yes, you can," said Daddy Bear.  "I know you can

because I heard your mommy say so.  When she saw you" - 

and Daddy Bear picked up the first baby bear to give

him a cuddle - "she said, 'That is the most perfect baby bear that

anyone has ever seen.'"

"Even with no patches?"

"Patches don't matter at all,"

replied his daddy,

as he tucked him in.

"And when your mommy saw you" - Daddy Bear

picked up the second baby bear - "she said,

'That is the most perfect 

second baby bear that

anyone has ever seen.'"

"Even if I'm not a boy?"

"Girl or boy, it makes

no difference," said

her daddy, and he 

hugged her tight.

"And when your mommy saw you" - Daddy Bear

lifted the last baby bear into his arms - 

"she said, 'That is the most perfect third

baby bear anyone has ever seen.'"

"Even if I'm the littlest?"

"Biggly or littlely,

we love you just the same.

So there.  Three favorites.

You're all my favorites!"

And the best baby bears in the whole wide world

went to sleep as happily as could be, because

that was a good answer, too.

Happy Father's Day to our favorite Dad!