Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Bear Sees Colors
Illustrator: Jane Chapman
Picture Book Series
For ages 4 to 6
Simon and Schuster, 2014 ISBN: 978-1442465367
One day Bear is out with his friend Mouse. With Mouse perched between his ears, Bear and Mouse chatter away. Then Bear sees a blue stream and blue flowers next to the trail. There are also blue berries growing on bushes and a blue pail to collect them in. Bear jumps into the water.
Bear is shaking the water out of his fur when Hare hops up. Hare greets Mouse and Bear and then “points up ahead,” which is when Bear sees a field of red flowers and bushes full of “juicy” red raspberries. There are also red cherries in the trees overhead. Lying in the grass the animals feast on the delicious fruit.
Just before Bear, Mouse, and Hare get to the pond they meet Badger, who is wearing his yellow galoshes. Badger tells his friends to “Look there!” and they see an enormous honeycomb dripping with honey in a tree.
Bear has seen, and tasted, so many wonderful things already, but his colorful day is far from over.
In this wonderful book Karma Wilson brings back her much loved animal characters to explore some of the glorious colors that make out world so beautiful. Children are given a clue to help them guess which new color bear is going to encounter next, and on each color spread they are invited to find things in the chosen color that have not yet been mentioned in the text. The joy Bear and his friends experience seems to radiate off the pages, and children will enjoy having their own fun by looking for things that are blue, red, yellow, green, and brown. Then they can explore the last multicolored spread that is packed with colorful (some of which are mighty tasty looking) things.
