Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?

This has always been one of my favorite books for young children. I love the way the book flows; you can read it in the same rhythm the whole time from page to page. The repetition of each animal shows the importance of their sound, and what they hear. The repetition and rhythm make it an entertaining read for young children. I know as a child, I always really enjoyed the illustrations. Each animal is very big and takes up almost all of the 2 pages it spreads across. They animals are also interestingly shaded with color, which I really liked as well. This book is great for children who are learning animal sounds. My favorite part of the book is the last page. The last page shows a bunch of school age children dressed up as the animals show more in the book. All the children are of different race, which relates to the diversity of all of the different animals in the book. show less

My storytime kids LOVED this book! It was very interactive, but simple enough to allow enjoyable phrase repetition without losing their attention. A very good read (and a classic for a reason!)

A big part of Brown Bear's charm is its surreal combining of animals and colors and the almost Remy Charlip conclusion. By changing colors for sounds the book loses one important visual element. Yes, the book still has Eric Carle's delightful style of illustrations but this time they are too grounded in reality.

A second problem with Polar Bear is the meter. Martin seems to be trying to keep the original sing-song meter of Brown Bear but his choice of animals and sounds gives him much longer words and often times too many syllables to fit into the simplistic meter of Brown Bear thus making Polar Bear hard to read out loud and frustrating to listen to (according to my children).

If you are a fan of Eric Carle's artwork or fans of Bill show more Martin Jr.'s books, then Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? will be a welcome to your personal library. For everyone else there are better board books. show less

Bill Martin's books are phenomenal. To say I use them a lot in storytime would be an understatement. Granted, I don't use them all the time.....but still.

"Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear" is all about the sounds animals make. "Snarl," "hiss," trumpeting", etc. They are harder words to introduce into a child's vocabulary....which is why we should!! And due to the repetition or general flow of the book, children can repeat a lot of the phrases.

The only thing that bugs me is not the accurate representation of the animals. I get bugged by a pink walrus....but that is just me.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr. is a rhyming children’s picture book that introduces various animals, such as a polar bear, lion, zebra, and many more. As the animals are introduced, the sounds they make are also presented.
This book allows children to easily learn which sounds connect with different animals through listening and repetition. Each animal follows a pattern, helping children stay engaged while learning animal names and sounds. The author uses repetition and rhythm to help young children develop listening and memory skills. The colorful illustrations help children recognize animals and connect them to their sounds. This book is especially relevant to young children because it encourages show more participation, making it a great read-aloud story in the classroom. show less

This is a a great book for introducing children to different animal sounds. My mom is a teacher and she had me growing up on Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle. I believe the most significant part about this book is the artwork itself. It's more than just pictures to fill the pages, it's actual art. I hadn't read this book in years till I read it for my author study and even though I didn't remember the words I remembered the pictures. I think that's what makes this book stand out so much.

I loved this book as a child and still do. It is entertaining for young readers because it helps them identify wild animals. The strong repetitive pattern helps students who are learning to read and write. This book is a great choice for guided or shared reading. I will use this book in my future elementary classroom.