Customer Reviews

Bear About Town (A Barefoot Board Book)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The primary charm of this book is in the illustrations. The text is basic--this is after all a book that is accessible to pre-literate children--but there is enough in the illustrations that an adult reader doesn't have to slog through the same (increasingly dreary) story every time he or she reads it aloud to a child. One can go through pointing out every appearance of the dog, or of the little birds, or of the bees--or whatever.

Children can gradually pick up on different repeated elements or images. For example, on "Friday" the bear goes to the toystore, and for sale there is a bucket that appears on subsequent pages. The text never states that that bucket has been purchased, but that is the inference that can be drawn. The bucket (purple with black spots) is half-hidden in the first picture where it makes an appearance--sly visual details like this encourage children to hunt for objects rather than having it all simplistically laid out for them so they see it the first time through. Older children can enjoy retracing Bear's daily routes on the map of Bear's town that makes up the last page of the book.

As a parent of small children, I can attest that it is quite difficult to find books with the right balance of pictures, text, and substance--it is annoying to snuggle down with your children with a book that is too short, and bookreading simply doesn't work if you try it with a book that doesn't, for whatever reason, hold a child's attention. With its bright colors and amusing images, this book works for the "very young," yet provides enough content to spare an older reader the worst horrors of gruesome repetition.

I'd recommend this book and others in this series (in board book form) as a gift for new parents. It's the kind of story toddlers can "grow into" as they gain language skills.

It may sound a little strong to say so, but I'd describe this book as a minor children's classic.

Bear About Town is a refreshing book which is well written and beautifully illustrated. The words are simple enough for your toddler to gradually learn by heart. The map of bear's town is the best part, a great starting point for curious questions and conversation. We trace bear's path and figure out how to get to different places in bear's town. The colors are bright and cheerful, and the mood is just right for reading together. My child is almost 3, and this has been a favorite since before age 2.

I agree with another reviewer that a few of the bear's destinations were poorly chosen in this book. Two of them, the movie theater and gym, are not relevant in my toddler's life. A grocery store, school, restaurant, library, etc. perhaps would have been more appropriate. However, one key aspect of the book trumps the weaker ones, making this book a must-have: the map at the end. This unusual picture book feature really excites my almost 2-year-old. We trace over the streets, visiting each stop in town with his finger over and over. What a fantastic way to introduce directional and spatial concepts to a toddler! Although imperfect, this book really is a valuable addition to our collection.

I found this book in a used book store and fell in love with it and so did my son and husband. I plan on ordering the others in the series. There are many things to talk about on each page. For example, when Bear goes to the bakery you can talk about all of the different things you can buy at the bakery, cake, cupcakes, bread including regular loaves of bread or long skinny baguettes, cookies, donuts etc. The language stimulation possibilities are endless the with fabulous pictures throughout the books. As a speech pathologist I look for books with pictures that have a lot to talk about and this book fits the bill.

Overall, the Bear series of books are fun, educational and highly enjoyable for my two-year-old son. The quality varies greatly within the series, however, and this one ranks the last on my list. It describes an arbitrary assortment of places and shops, which do not coincide very well with the experience of a typical young child. For example, I have not taken my son to a movie theater and do not plan to do so in the near future. If you are new to the Bear series, you should start with "Bear on a Bike", which, being sophisticated and accessible at the same time, is by far the best.

When my 3 year old started showing interest in days of the week I thought I'd check out some books that talk about each day of the week to help him learn them. Since we love "Bear on a Bike" by the same author/illustrator team this was the first book I picked up. However I was really disappointed. The illustrations are just as colorful and fun but the story is super lame and hardly holds a 3 year olds attention. Seems out of sync with when a child is ready to learn days of the week. Plus the places the bear visits (a movie theater?) also don't seem in line with this age group. I do love the map illustration at the end of the book that shows all the places the bear visited - but again this seems better for the older (3+) crowd but the story is for babies.

Great book. Vibrant colors. Lots of detail in the pictures w/o being overwhelming. My boys love it.

Someone gave this to us for my daughter's first birthday and she's been smitten ever since. It's consistently her favorite to read, favorite to look at, and my favorite too! The pages are glossy, colorful, intricate illustrations which allow for a different reading every single time you open the book. Some days we count the bees, other days the flowers and the bears themselves. Honestly, after 3 months of reading this book at least 4 times a week, she is still extremely engaged and intrigued by its characters and illustrations. THIS is what kids' books should be. The gold standard by far!

I bought this book for my son and he absolutely loves it. We both enjoy reading it again and again and go through the town with the Bear. The color is bright and refreshing. Not only the book introduces different activities the bear does around the town, but also introduces the days of the week. I would recommend this book to anybody with young children.

Engaging and fun. The kind of book babies pick up because it has bright colors, then become more interested in as they start to recognize the objects. Highly recommended.

See my longer review above--Amazon is being funky here and while my experiences with reading her books to my children have converted me into a zealous advocateto Stella Blackstone's *Bear* series, I don't see a need to pretend that I'm more than one person!

--KR