Brown Bear Brown Bear

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
by Bill Martin Jr
illustrated by Eric Carle

Summary
This book cycles through different colored animals, beginning with a brown bear. The reader asks "Brown bear brown bear what do you see?" and the brown bear fills in "I see a red bird looking at me." Each page of the book has a new animal, sometimes an odd color (blue horse), and the literacy is constructed in a participation friendly way: "______ _______ what do you see? I see a ______ looking at me." Ultimately, the goldfish sees a teacher looking at him, and the teacher sees children. When the children are asked what they see, they go through all of the animals, thus giving children the opportunity to recall all of the animals they saw during the read aloud.

Discussion
This repetitive entertaining book is a favorite in classrooms and among most young children. When I was in preschool I can remember loving to chant this book with my teachers. The foreshadowing on each age about the upcoming animal allows children to "predict" what animal picture is coming next. This book is perfect for a real aloud, and tests children's memory, imagination, and sequencing ability. The illustrations by Eric Carle are inviting for children, and the odd colored animals provide humor for children (purple cat, blue horse). Children are able to see their own participation in the book as the children on the penultimate page. One could springboard off of this book with felt animals for each animal represented in the book, making puppets, or helping children to construct their own book about things they see.

By clicking on the picture above you can listen to a child reading Brown Bear Brown Bear.

Carle, B., & Martin, E. (. (1992). Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?. New York: Henry Holt & Co.