I am looking for a children's book from many years ago.  It had to
have been printed before 1969 I believe.  It started with "It was
morning in the bear's mountain cave..." A tale of a bear family out of
honey (I think). It was a large hardcover book.

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Request for Question Clarification by juggler-ga on 15 Aug 2005 04:17 PDT

Could it be "Freddie Bear" (1965)?

"Lucy and Peter visit the bear family in their cave one summer and go
on a honey hunt with Father Freddie Bear. "
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=103920164

As indicated, the story involves a family of bears in search of honey.
 The fact that these bears reside in a  "cave" is also consistent with
your description. Moreover, the book is hardcover and large (i.e.,
folio-sized).

There's a photo on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Freddie-Bear-Claude-Laydu-Paul-Durand-1st-E-Big-Golden_W0QQitemZ4539358662QQcategoryZ378QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Look familiar?

Let me know if this is your book.  Thanks.

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Clarification of Question by lissa3-ga on 15 Aug 2005 11:05 PDT

Wow, I am not 100% positive, but I think that is the book. I am so
amazed.  I am probably going to buy it.  Thank you so much!  How did
you do that with so little information?

Great! 

Okay, then we'll make "Freddie Bear" (1965) the official answer.
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=laydu&y=0&tn=freddie+bear&x=0

As for how I found it...  Well, there are many books about bears and
honey, but the word "cave" struck me as distinctive, so I used the
keyword search feature at abebooks.com:
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchEntry
keywords: bear honey cave
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bx=off&sts=t&ds=30&bi=0&kn=bear+honey+cave&sortby=2

When I saw that "Freddie Bear" was an oversized hardcover book and
that the year (1965) was consistent with your recollection, I figured
this might be a match.

If it turns out to not be the right book, let me know via the "request
clarification" feature and we'll go back to the drawing board. 
Thanks!

Wow, I am so impressed.  Even if this is not the right book, I think
it was amazing how fast the information was sent back to me.

Thank you very much for the tip.  Be sure to come back and let me know
if it was the right book.
-juggler

Hi juggler-ga,
The answer you gave was right on. I took a chance and ordered the
book. It is exactly the right book and my 6 year old loves it as much
as I did as a child.
Thank you, Thank you!!!-Melissa

Wonderful!  I'm glad to hear that.
Thanks again!
-juggler