Saturday, March 19, 2011

Bears in Picture Books

Let's talk about bears! 



Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle (Henry Holt) 
Brown Bear might be the most famous picture book bear of all.  But he does have to share the this rhyming book with Yellow Duck, Blue Horse, Red Bird, Green Frog and others...



So if you want MORE BEARS...well you'll just have to check out More Bears by Kenn Nesbitt/Troy Cummings (Sourcebooks).  In this wacky picture book, an author sits down to write a book that has nothing to do with bears, but his audience keeps demanding MORE BEARS - until there are so many bears, the story collapses.



If you are looking for more serious bears, then dive into the non-fiction treat Bears! Bears! Bears! by Bob Barner (Chronicle) that introduces the major bears around the world (polar bear, sun bear, panda bear, sloth bear, and more) in lovely illustrations.  In the back, you get some bear facts and a world map of bears. Find out more at the author's website (Flash + sound).



Or maybe you prefer a sweet bedtime story with only polar bears? How about Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson/Stephen Savage (Scholastic)?  In it, a polar bear cub takes a moonlit walk and sees a sleeping walrus, sleeping seals and whales and finally a star shower. 



And then there's the realistically portrayed friendship between Bug and Bear by Ann Bonwill/Layn Marlow (Oxford UK, Marshall Cavendish US). Bear is tired and grumpy, annoyed that bug wants to play games.  Bear tries many ways to ditch bug, but finally they find an activity they can do together. Find out more at the author's website!

For more suggestions, see this list of bear picture books at Flashlight Worthy Books and this list of bear picture books at Squidoo.

What are your favorite picture books featuring bears?

18 comments:

Jenn's Bookshelves said...

We love Karma Wilson's "Bear" series of picture books, including The Bear Snores On, Bear Feels Scared, etc. We just love the illustrations!

Peaceful Reader said...

I love books with bears and I will have to check these out. One of my favorites is A Visitor for Bear by Bonnie Becker.

Lenore Appelhans said...

I'll have to check those out Jenn!

PR - A Visitor for Bear is awesome :)

bermudaonion said...

They all look adorable!

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

My niece loves Winnie the Pooh (Bear) as well as her "Do Me Up" cuddly bear book (for which you can find my review at http://notesoflife.co.uk/2010/11/a-cuddly-bear-thats-a-book/ )

I'm always on the look-out for new books for my niece.

Reeder Reads said...

What a cute post! When I was little, I was obsessed with panda bears and monkeys. All of my books shared a running theme between the two animals ;)

Meytal Radzinski said...

Lars, The Little Polar Bear. Best bear in the history of all picture book bears. Seriously. No others even come close.

Lawral the Librarian said...

I gave my nephew Bears, Bears, Bears this past Christmas. His hands-down favorite part is that the book cover unfolds to be a poster of the map in the back of the book. It's his "secret" poster. He really likes being able to point to the different bears on the map while someone is reading to him about them.

Emy Shin said...

These are adorable.

It's more Panda than Bear, but I love ZEN SHORTS by Jon J. Muth.

Staci said...

You listed a few that I've read to my boys...I love bears in stories!

Zibilee said...

Oh, I like the sound of More Bears, and think it would be perfect for a little girl I know who just loves animals. Thanks for sharing these!

Jennifer said...

My kids absolutely love Brown Bear, Brown Bear. Our copy has become very well worn by now!

Unknown said...

I haven't read the others, but I've never been a big fan of the Carle Brown Bear book.

great post.

I woke up Sunday a.m. to find my blog, my 500 plus followers, my 100plus author interviews, and my 200 plus reviews gone. Blogger gave no explanation, but I think the account was hacked. Change your password often!

I have reloaded the interviews and reviews, plus redesigned the blog. But if you could, please hit the "follow" button so I can reclaim the fellow bloggers I miss. I'm still following you, as my account remained--thank goodness!
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Debbie's World of Books said...

My daughter loved Brown Bear, Brown Bear and she is a huge fan of Bears, Bears, Bears now. She loves that the jacket cover unfolds into a map and talks about different types of bears.

Danielle Zappavigna said...

My current favourite book with bears is The Other Bears by Michael Thompson - a positive message about multiculturalism in Australia and has beautiful illustrations.

Anonymous said...

Berenstain Bears

Lola said...

Yay! for bears! :D

Heather Zundel said...

Karma Wilson, definitely, but my absolute favorite "bear" book is called Where Do Bears Sleep? talking about all the animals and where they sleep. It was wonderful. I grew up on that book. They've reprinted it but with new illustrations that I don't like. Of course, childhood may be biasing that. :)