Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
P. Bear’s New Year’s Eve Party
Board Book
For infants to children age 3
Tricycle Press, 2006 ISBN: 978-1582461915
Mr. P. Bear is having a New Year’s Eve party and has invited a number of his friends to come over to his house for the evening. The first arrival is a large whale who turns up on the doorstep at one o’clock. At two o’clock a pair of handsome horses arrive complete with white bow ties around their necks. At five o’clock the panda bears arrive one of whom tries on P. Bear’s very fetching black top hat.
Every hour a new group of animals arrives, every one of them looking their best and eagerly anticipating a jolly New Year’s Eve celebration.
Children who look at this clever little book will quickly recognize that there are a number of things going on in the simple story. They will notice that all the animals are black and white in color. They will see that every hour the number of arriving animals gets bigger. Thus, at five o’clock five panda bears arrive, at six o’clock six mountain goats arrive and so on. They will also notice that the number of animals arriving corresponds with the hour at which they arrive. These patterns make the book engaging and will give the young reader the opportunity to guess what will be coming next. On the last page the reader is encouraged is figure out how many animals have arrived all together.
Striking black and white illustrations and an appealing presentation make this counting and time telling book a winning title.
