This deceptively simple picture book is charming in both text and illustration, following the gentle adventures of a "boulder-big bear with shaggy, raggy, brownbear hair everywhere...except on his no-hair nose." The books takes him from salmon fishing in the spring (check out the subtle expressions on the fish faces) through honey hunting and blueberry munching in the summer, acorn-eating in the fall, and then settling in for hibernation in the winter. Phonological awareness is highlighted through the melodic phrases like "each spring, when the silver salmon leap into the air, fisherbear is there...to catch them," and "each summer he's a sticky, licky honey hunter". Narrative skills can be subtly reinforced by following the seasons as bear goes through them, and by revisiting the various creatures he sees in his adventures as they, too, settle in for the winter (first salmon, then bees, then squirrels). Text in different colors and sizes and isolated on the page lends itself to print awareness
, but the book's true value lies in the melding of lyrical text and vibrant illustrations - the colors are lush, the images of bear snuffling up honey with his long tongue and rolling around in the blueberry bushes, blueberries stuck on every claw are especially good for small groups or one-on-one reading so that the details can be appreciated.
- Tasha Forrester
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.