Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (Brown Bear and Friends)

by Bill Martin (Author) Eric Carle (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

What will you hear when you read this book to a preschool child?

Lots of noise!

Children will chant the rhythmic words. They'll make the sounds the animals make. And they'll pretend to be the zoo animals featured in the book-- look at the last page!

Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle are two of the most respected names in children's education and children's illustrations. This collaboration, their first since the classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (published more than thirty years ago and still a best-seller) shows two masters at their best.

A Redbook Children's Picture Book Award winner

The rollicking companion to Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? 

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Publishers Weekly

It's been 25 years since these two talented men put their heads together, but the fruit of their latest collaboration is well worth the wait. Continuing in the spirit of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, their new book incorporates the same clean design and crisp text, but this time the action takes place at the zoo, where elephants, hippos, lions and such are asked what they hear—each answer leads to the animal on the next page, and culminates with a zookeeper who "hears" a pageful of multiracial children disguised as their favorite animals. Carle's characteristically inventive, jewel-toned artwork forms a seamless succession of images that fairly leap off the pages, and educator Martin, ever tuned in to what children like best, has assembled a thoroughly rowdy menagerie—including a fluting flamingo, bellowing walrus and hissing boa constrictor, to name a few—imitations of whose sounds will doubtless soon be echoing in many homes and classrooms. A visually and aurally splashy work, this is a splendid successor to Brown Bear, one that no fan of that popular bruin will want to be without. Ages 2-4. (Oct.)

School Library Journal

Starred Review
PreS-Gr 1— In a logical sensory follow-up to Martin's and Carle's wildly successful Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Holt, 1983), this dynamic duo now offers sounds. The polar bear hears a lion roaring, who hears a hippopotamus snorting, who hears a flamingo fluting (!), who hears a zebra braying, and so on through a varied list of animals. At last the zookeeper announces that he hears children roaring, snorting, fluting, etc. While the format is very similar to the previous book, Carle's trademark collages have never been more beautiful. Huge animals fill the double-page spreads, glowing with light-filled colors, sans superflouous background. Teachers will smile with delight when they see this wonderful book, and students are sure to utter the familiar request, "Have you got another one like this one?" —Ruth Semrau, Lovejoy School, Allen, TX

Review quotes

"Teachers will smile with delight when they see this wonderful book, and students are sure to utter the familiar request, 'Have you got another one like this one?'" —School Library Journal, starred review

"A splendid successor to Brown Bear." —Publishers Weekly

Bill Martin
Bill Martin, Jr. (1916-2004) has been called "America's favorite children's author." He wrote more than 300 books for children, including the classic texts Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, illustrated by Eric Carle; and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, illustrated by Lois Ehlert.

Michael Sampson is a New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two books for young children, including Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 and The Bill Martin Jr Big Book of Poetry. He and Bill Martin Jr wrote many popular books together, including Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? and Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? Michael Sampson lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Lois Ehlert (1934-2021) illustrated numerous inventive, celebrated, and bestselling picture books, including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Mice, Ten Little Caterpillars, and her own Holey Moley, The Scraps Book, RRRalph, Lots of Spots, Boo to You!, Leaf Man, Snowballs, Waiting for Wings, Planting a Rainbow, Growing Vegetable Soup, and Color Zoo, which received a Caldecott Honor.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780805017595
Lexile Measure
670
Guided Reading Level
G
Publisher
Henry Holt & Company
Publication date
October 15, 1991
Series
Brown Bear and Friends
BISAC categories
JUV000000 - Juvenile Fiction | General
Library of Congress categories
Zoo animals
Stories in rhyme
Animal sounds

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