4.60

4

Jan 19, 2008

Many people may not like this book or think it is too simple a book, not really a story. I think this is a great book. My children love it. It is a perfect book for young children who are just starting to learn letters, their sounds, and words. It is also a great book for those children who may not be great readers. When I taught first grade, I had a few students who weren't able to read. Their confindence level was low and we had a really hard time finding good books that they were able to read Many people may not like this book or think it is too simple a book, not really a story. I think this is a great book. My children love it. It is a perfect book for young children who are just starting to learn letters, their sounds, and words. It is also a great book for those children who may not be great readers. When I taught first grade, I had a few students who weren't able to read. Their confindence level was low and we had a really hard time finding good books that they were able to read independently. But this was one of the few books they enjoyed reading on their own. Any book that can make a child feel like they are a successful reader is a great book in my opinion. ...more

4

Jul 31, 2013

Subtexts: perspective, surveillance, paranoia!

I had to read this aloud maybe a hundred nights in a row before I noticed what the text was plainly saying: everyone thinks they are being watched! And ironically, they are the ones doing the watching! From the titular brown bear who is certain that the red bird is watching him/her, each animal is watching an animal and projecting that the very animal they watch, is watching them!

In reality, none of the projected watching is happening. Each animal is Subtexts: perspective, surveillance, paranoia!

I had to read this aloud maybe a hundred nights in a row before I noticed what the text was plainly saying: everyone thinks they are being watched! And ironically, they are the ones doing the watching! From the titular brown bear who is certain that the red bird is watching him/her, each animal is watching an animal and projecting that the very animal they watch, is watching them!

In reality, none of the projected watching is happening. Each animal is watching a different animal, save for the children, who imagine that ALL the animals watch them, when in fact it is the children who gaze out at every animal.

Here are the lessons of the book:
-the people you think are watching you aren't
-actually, it is YOU who is doing the watching!
-animal colors in real life may vary from depictions [though Franz Marc painted some lovely blue horses and I do hope their inclusion here is a nod to him] ...more

1

Sep 15, 2008

Terrible characterization. Blue Horse? What the heck is that!? The plot is monotonous and dull. And the ending...a montage of scenes from the book, and not even a good one! The only thing I can say in its favor is that you can probably get through it in a couple of days.

4

Jan 01, 2019

4This is a cute and creative book. My niece likes to skip some pages and then go back, then skip and go back. She loves the tabs she gets to pull. She is learning how to wait for her queue to pull them still. Eh, she’ll get there. She’s not even 1.5 yet. :)
I love the rhymes. I like the shapes and forms of the animals, they seem solid and geometric .. easy for a child to see and identify. I also like the bright colors. 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️This is a cute and creative book. My niece likes to skip some pages and then go back, then skip and go back. She loves the tabs she gets to pull. She is learning how to wait for her queue to pull them still. Eh, she’ll get there. She’s not even 1.5 yet. :)
I love the rhymes. I like the shapes and forms of the animals, they seem solid and geometric .. easy for a child to see and identify. I also like the bright colors. ...more

5

Apr 30, 2017

I have been an avid fan of Eric Carle’s works, especially of his well-known children’s book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and one of the books that Eric Carle had worked on that I did not get the chance to read when I was little was “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” which was also written by Bill Martin Jr. All in all, this was one children’s book that children should definitely check out!

Since this story is extremely short, the summary will be brief.
Basically, the plot of this book is

I have been an avid fan of Eric Carle’s works, especially of his well-known children’s book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and one of the books that Eric Carle had worked on that I did not get the chance to read when I was little was “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” which was also written by Bill Martin Jr. All in all, this was one children’s book that children should definitely check out!

Since this story is extremely short, the summary will be brief.
Basically, the plot of this book is about the reader seeing various animals comment on what other beings they are looking at that precise moment, while each animal states a variation of this quote:

“Brown Bear, Brown Bear,
What do you see?
I see a red bird looking at me.

Red Bird, Red Bird,
What do you see?
I see a yellow duck looking at me.”

Wow! I cannot believe that I waited this long to finally pick up this popular children’s book and it was definitely worth reading in the end! I loved the simplistic style that Bill Martin Jr. brought to this book as the plot is basically having readers see various animals in different colors popping up in the book and commenting on other animals they have seen. I loved the fact that each animal is a different color such as having a blue horse and a purple cat as it brings a unique spin to the storytelling of this book and I was quietly anticipating seeing what kind of animals we will see pop up in this book. Eric Carle’s artwork is as always, a delight to look at as all the characters are rendered in paper cut outs which gives the book a creative look and I really loved the images of the different animals that show up in this book, such as the purple cat and the blue horse!



Even though there is nothing wrong with this book, I have to wonder why it was banned in the first place? Well, it turns out that when it was banned, the person who banned the book made a mistake regarding the author of this book, who is Bill Martin Jr. and the person thought that it was the same Bill Martin who wrote the book “Ethical Marxism: The Categorical Imperative of Liberation.” Now, I have never read any of the “other” Bill Martin’s books, but this was the first instance where a book was mistakenly banned for the wrong reasons and that got me curious yet annoyed.

Overall, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” is a truly cute book for children who want to have fun with identifying animals and colors all wrapped up into one book! I would recommend this book to children ages three and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.


Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

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4

Mar 15, 2016

This is the story of a teacher so dedicated that her students simply called her Teacher. She celebrated her classroom's multi-racial, multi-ethnic diversity with an array of class pets: a brown bear, a red bird, a yellow duck, a blue horse, a green frog, a purple cat, a white dog, a black sheep, and a goldfish. Some criticize her teaching methods, citing the dangers of bears in the classroom, but I stand by her choice to lead with alliteration in spite of any potential maulings.

5

Jul 29, 2013

My Kindergarteners made me read this to them five times on Friday at work. Five times!!!!! By the time I was done, I could tell every word to the story without looking at the pages. Some one please save me from pushy five year olds with a penchant for rhyming books.

3

Apr 05, 2008

I wasn't really into this book when I was little, but this is my daughter's favorite book- so I have to give it 5 star props. Whenever we get to the black sheep, she yells out "BAAAAAA!"

Many mornings she wakes up and demands, "BOOK!" and if I don't pick this one, she yells, "Noooooooo! BOOOOK!" until I read her Brown Bear...

5

Mar 03, 2018

My children loved this book when they where small. A firm favourite on my bookshelf.

5

Sep 24, 2011

‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?’ By Eric Carle.

This is another great picture book by Eric Carle. You could happily read it aloud and enjoy it with a young audience. The children have lots of opportunities to join in, as the book focuses on using rhythmic and repetitive texts throughout. The illustrations are fantastic, a combination of bright eye-catchy colours with lovely examples of tissue paper collages used to represent the animals in the story.

The book begins with the reader ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?’ By Eric Carle.

This is another great picture book by Eric Carle. You could happily read it aloud and enjoy it with a young audience. The children have lots of opportunities to join in, as the book focuses on using rhythmic and repetitive texts throughout. The illustrations are fantastic, a combination of bright eye-catchy colours with lovely examples of tissue paper collages used to represent the animals in the story.

The book begins with the reader asking the Brown Bear, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?” The Bear then tells the audience what he see's. The author uses this concept of repeating the question to all the animals in the book and finally the goldfish reply’s “I see a teacher looking at me”, so the goldfish asks the Teacher who then ask the children.
I really like how the author has managed to engage everyone in the story.

I would, without hesitation recommend this book for children in early years and even children who need extra support due to additional needs in reading because the rhythmic and repetitive approach would be very beneficial.
I think this book possesses many cross-curricular opportunities for children in early years. It could be a great starting point to introduce young children to different animals and colours. I also think you could carry out a wonderful art lesson on patterns and collages using the illustrations from the book to help the children to become more creative.
























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5

Apr 25, 2013

Bold move to not order the animals according to the ROY G BIV spectrum. Makes it slightly more challenging to memorize. I'm almost there, though.

My eleven week old daughter giggles like a maniac whenever I start reading this book to her, and she is particularly fascinated by the final page. Hence -- because of the maniacal gurgling and concurrent kicking -- five stars, although personally I found the narrative arc a bit flat.

5

Mar 04, 2014

I can't recall how many times I've read this for storytime over the years. A lot. That's the answer. It's a favorite for all.

5

Jun 13, 2013

Definitely one our favorite books. Great illustrations and fun to say out loud. All my kids pretty much have the book memorized so much so that we recite it in the car. Easy reading, but a good book for an older sibling to read to their younger siblings and a great way to learn colors. A book the whole family loves.

3

Dec 27, 2017

My daughter loves this for the animals and repetition. It does well to teach color, perception, and basic animal recognition. But it honestly gives me a headache with its dull repetition and lack of rhyme use when it so easily would have improved readability.

5

Sep 19, 2018

Great classic to help kinders begin to read by "retelling" the story.

5

Jun 04, 2017

Perfect Picvture Book Friday Post/Review
**This SIGNED edition, by ERIC CARLE, is up for a GIVEAWAY!. (See the link on review post). Last Day to Enter: Friday, June 9, 2017 (next Friday – 1 week.)**

Synopsis
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BROWN BEAR!

“Fifty years ago, Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle collaborated on their first book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? This bestseller has been read and loved by millions of children.

“In this special anniversary edition, readers can enjoy the beloved classic in Perfect Picvture Book Friday Post/Review
**This SIGNED edition, by ERIC CARLE, is up for a GIVEAWAY!. (See the link on review post). Last Day to Enter: Friday, June 9, 2017 (next Friday – 1 week.)**

Synopsis
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BROWN BEAR!

“Fifty years ago, Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle collaborated on their first book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? This bestseller has been read and loved by millions of children.

“In this special anniversary edition, readers can enjoy the beloved classic in a larger format that showcases Eric Carle’s spectacular art alongside Bill Martin’s familiar, rhythmic text. The enclosed CD adds to the fun with a reading of the story by acclaimed actress Gwyneth Paltrow.” [INSIDE JACKET]

Opening
Brown Bear,
Brown Bear,
What do you see?

I see a red bird
looking at me.

Why I like this book
Really, how can you NOT like this book? It’s a classic. It probably defines “classic” in children’s books.

Includes a CD—Gwyneth Paltrow reading the story. Young children can follow along and can add to their vocabulary by listening and learning new words. (Also gives parents a reading break.)

The illustrations are magnificent. Nothing else to say.

The rhyming is spot-on. The images are wonderful. Aspiring writers and illustrators can learn a lot from reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

This SIGNED edition, by ERIC CARLE, is up for a GIVEAWAY!. (See the link on review post). Last Day to Enter: Friday, June 9, 2017 (next Friday – 1 week.)

Originally reviewed on Kid Lit Reviews. To ENTER GIVEAWAY, see illustrations, read full post, go to: http://bit.ly/BrownBearBrownBear50thE... ...more

5

Nov 03, 2010

I've been eyeing this in the book store and thought it looked neat but wasn't sure if I wanted to spend $13 on a brand new book that would just be drooled on and sat on and gnawed on and have the spine cracked while testing the physical limits on how far one can turn a page backwards.

And then great grandma sent it to us in a birthday package. Problem solved!

The first time we read this book my daughter had a reaction to every single turn of the page. She gasped, pointed and said things like, I've been eyeing this in the book store and thought it looked neat but wasn't sure if I wanted to spend $13 on a brand new book that would just be drooled on and sat on and gnawed on and have the spine cracked while testing the physical limits on how far one can turn a page backwards.

And then great grandma sent it to us in a birthday package. Problem solved!

The first time we read this book my daughter had a reaction to every single turn of the page. She gasped, pointed and said things like, "OH!" and "AHH!" and "GAH!" This evening we read this book four times in a row and she was utterly spellbound. And the picture of a group of children on the last page makes her laugh every time.

Each page has a slide window that when you peek underneath shows a miniature version of the animal that will appear on the next page. The slide window itself was beyond her ken but the large, colorful drawings of animals appealed to her very much and I have a feeling this book will grow with her over the years.

This book would make an excellent gift. ...more

3

Dec 16, 2016

Mom read me this today and I am not ashamed to say I threw a big fit. Not two days ago I heard my doctor specifically tell her that I can't see colors yet, and here she is taunting me with red, yellow, purple, green, etc. etc. GEEEEEEEEEZ! -M

5

May 06, 2016

What Do You See? I see another favorite of my grandson's, with rhyming repetition and bright, colorful drawings of animals and people.

5

May 27, 2015

I read this with my children. Classic kids book! They have memorized it they love so much!

4

Nov 26, 2017

A thought provoking meditation on race relations. The question we all need to ask ourselves is, what do you see?

4

Oct 28, 2018

This book would be great for children either learning colours and animals in English or learning them in another language I.e in French or German.

There is lots of repetition throughout the book. So the only words that change on each page are colours and the animals.

5

Jan 18, 2019

The 2 year old "reads" this one to himself and it is adorable! (Although he doesn't always get the colors right, still adorable!)

3

Oct 30, 2013

This book is a child's fiction book that follows a rhythmic pattern throughout the story. It introduces colours and potentially new animals to children in a simple yet imaginative way. The story asks certain animals what they can see, to which they answer what they see looking at them. E.g. 'Brown Bear, brown Bear, what do you see?' ... 'I see a red bird looking at me'. This creative rhyming nature continues until the book finishes with a summary of all the animals and things that the 'children' This book is a child's fiction book that follows a rhythmic pattern throughout the story. It introduces colours and potentially new animals to children in a simple yet imaginative way. The story asks certain animals what they can see, to which they answer what they see looking at them. E.g. 'Brown Bear, brown Bear, what do you see?' ... 'I see a red bird looking at me'. This creative rhyming nature continues until the book finishes with a summary of all the animals and things that the 'children' have seen.

This book has bold, attention grabbing illustrations that would help keep the attention of the children especially children with EAL. The easy to read and repetitive nature of this book make it an extremely useful resource for children with EAL. The repetitive and rhythmic language used is beneficial to children mainly with EAL as it uses the same words over and over, meaning that these children have a chance to interact and join in as the story becomes more familiar. This story's dual language aspect makes it available in a variety of languages which will help EAL children understand this book more clearly.

This book can also be beneficial for children with SEN. The book's easy to grasp nature helps the children focus and anticipate what animal is going to appear next in the book. I feel that this book would be excellent for children with SEN as it is easily understandable yet endearing and interesting.

I feel this book could also be used in the mainstream primary setting where the children could be asked to come up with their own animals and then share their idea with the rest of the class following the structure of the book.

Overall I feel this book is aimed at Key Stage 1 children, teaching them basic colours and language through rhythmic repetition. This book will interest and excite Key stage 1. I believe that making children's first impression of reading exciting is a vital aspect of getting children to WANT to read throughout their childhood. For me this book does exactly this through its literacy and its fantastic illustrations. This book's illustrations could also give some artistic ideas to children.

I strongly recommend this book would be best used as an interact book reading lesson, where the children would join in with the rhyme while using the illustrations to help guess what animal is going to be seen next in the sequence. This is beneficial to all children as it tests their memory through recall and gets them to think of the sequence that they have just listened to. It also incorporates all children whether mainstream, SEN or EAL children.




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5

May 23, 2013

Truly a classic... read it to two very hyperactive boys today and it calm them immediately. I had to read it to them 6 times and I love the it as much as they did! A true classic!!!!!!!!!!!