bear sees colors by karma wilson and jane chapman

You've seen one book about colors, you've seen them all, right? Sometimes it does feel that way.  Over the years, I feel like I've read so many books that set out to teach preschoolers to identify their colors.  Well, let me tell you that even if you have a million color books on your shelves, you still need one more!  You need Bear Sees Colors by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman.

"Mouse and Bear are walking; they are chitter-chatter-talking.  So much for them to do. And the bear sees . . . "

Blue!  And green!  And yellow!  In this book, Bear and his forest friends go tromping through the forest, and as they walk, they find that the forest is a very colorful place.  There are blue rivers, red berries, yellow honey combs, and much more. 

Bear Sees Colors features the same style all of the Bear books have: a rhyming story, sweet forest friends, adorable illustrations, and a happy story that preschoolers are sure to love.  Every book shelf needs at least a couple of Bear books! 

What do you think?  Do you have a favorite color book that I need to know about?  

bear and bunny by daniel pinkwater and will hildebrand

Hello there!  Welcome to Booktomato!  Today we are reading this sweet little water-colored picture book, Bear and Bunny by Daniel Pinkwater and Will Hildebrand.  Come read along with us! 

"The bunny and the bear are friends.  They like to wander in the woods, look for things to eat, and talk things over."

While reading this story of a bear and bunny companionship, I was reminded a lot of another bear and bunny friendship, well actually, a bear/bunny/donkey/tiger/piglet/owl relationship.  This book is very much like and maybe even inspired by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in the story's tone and pacing and the way the characters get their facts delightfully wrong sometimes.  This isn't a BAM POW action in your face book, but instead, Bear and Bunny have slow paced, gentle but entertaining conversations as they walk through the forest.  Towards the middle of the book, they decide to find themselves a pet to love and care for, and they find the cutest little frog to take home with them.  

We enjoyed this story a good deal, but with one edit I made as I was reading.  The story meanders like a little stream, and the slow pacing combined with its larger word count made it just slightly too long to read in one sitting with my preschooler.  I found as I read it that there are several natural stopping places within the story almost like the book wants to have chapters.  I just broke the story up into those chapters and read it in installments for my three year old.  Naturally, an older child, like a first grader, could sit through the whole thing.  

Have a great day and take some time today to read a good book!