I also remember Polar Bear, Polar Bear but did not know about Panda Bear and Baby Bear!
What do we love about these books? I'm sure that educators could tell you, in big words, about the rhythm of the words and the bright colors stimulating the visual and auditory centers of the developing brain. Me? I just think they're fun. That my kids loved them just makes it better for me. Actually, me liking them makes it better for them because I didn't groan when they wanted it read for the the umpteenth time.
I know Eric Carle has illustrated many books (A Very Hungry Caterpillar) but I don't remember Have You Seen My Cat and think I'll find a copy. Bill Martin Jr also wrote Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and while I know I loved the book that's all I remember of it! Well, something about a coconut tree ;-)
I would like to find out more about Eric Carle and Bill Martin Jr, I'm sure it would make for fascinating reading.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
by Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle
25th Anniversary edition
hardcover
Picture Book, ages 2-4
32 pages
source: personal library
Product Description:
With more than two million copies sold, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? has opened up a world of learning to a generation of children. For this edition, created for the twenty-fifth anniversay in 1992, Bill Martin, Jr., restored his text to its original wording. And Eric Carle created all new pictures--based on the originals, but clearer, brighter, and truer to the colors they represent.
I'm guessing the publisher thinks everyone knows what the book is like. They may be right but I still needed something to tell you that wasn't someone else's review!
Each animal is asked what it sees, thus developing a rhyme, starting with the title animal. Brown bear, brown bear, What do you see? I see a red bird looking at me and on the next page is a red bird and we ask what he sees. The ending changes to people, in this edition it is a teacher and her class. The illustrations make it fun for the very young while the older ones will soon be "reading" it all on their own.