Why A Bear for Every Hour Isn’t a Children’s Book Series

“People see bears and assume ‘children’s literature.’
It’s an understandable mistake—one that already damaged Tintin’s legacy.

Tintin was never meant for children. It taught me, at age seven, what chloroform does, how crime syndicates operate, how people betray each other, and how courage works without violence. It shaped my worldview long before I had the language for philosophy.

But Tintin was mis-marketed as a kids’ comic. As a result, generations of adults dismissed it without ever rediscovering its depth.

I refuse to let that happen to A Bear for Every Hour.

Despite its approachable format, A Bear for Every Hour is fundamentally a work of philosophy—a Trojan-horse framework designed for adults, especially those who were once the kind of child I was: the observers, the outsiders, the ones carrying invisible battles.

Children can read it, yes. But A Bear for Every Hour is written to help adults understand the world they’ve already lived through.

That is why it is classified under Philosophy, not Children’s Fiction, and why it will remain there.”

A-L.C.L. Wagenknecht

On Outer Childhood and Inner Adulthood

Most people carry a child within them—i.e. an “inner child” that remains unfinished, unmet, or unresolved. Their adult world is external: what they perform, protect, and present. Their child world is internal: what they conceal. I am the opposite.

My “child world” is external, expressed through the aesthetics of which people assume are limited to the whimsical. From stuffed animals, soft objects, symbolic creatures, and huggable forms, these are not regressions, nor attempts to recover innocence, but rather, are my instruments. They are the visible language through which I translate complexity into something more palatable to the average reader.

On the other hand, my “adult world” is internal. It is highly structured, philosophical, strategic, and precise. It is where the analysis happens, where cognitive architecture forms, and where experience is examined then sifted with a fine sieve of meaning. Because my childhood questions were resolved over time, the childlike elements in my world are not unfinished business, but tools. These are the tools that I impart to others who may not have the same experiences or resources that I had, to process them.

This reversal—an outer child and an inner adult—is the foundation of A Bear for Every Hour.

The series is not meant to summon anyone’s inner child; it is meant to provide a gentle, huggable gateway into the adult frameworks that shape resilience, identity, clarity, and truth. One can think about the bears doing the cushioning so the lessons don’t have to be softened. Sometimes, for some people, the only way to seek closure is by being given the raw truth; and a little Teddy Bear can help with that.