Response to Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? By Bill Martin Jr.

Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? The title of this book alone explains that this book is a representation of differences. As humans, we all look at people, animals, places etc. and see their differences from one another. It is the idea that THIS IS OKAY that we struggle with. While reading Brown Bear Brown Bear the child is able to see a variety of animals, all different colors, shapes and sizes. While the child is reading the book they are receiving the message that all of the animals are different yet brown bear see's them all, and likes them all. It is a huge message that is being given in a subtle way. Many have probably read this book and never thought of such a thing. My favorite part of the book is the purple cat. A lot of the animals in the book are the color that we expect them to be, and then there is the purple cat! We are not used to seeing purple cats, but we see the cat, and we like the cat! We accept that the cat is purple in this book and we move on...it's that simple! :) This has always been one of my favorite picture books as well as one of my favorite authors. Eric Carle is an amazing illustrator which is a huge part of picture books. As stated in The Joy of Children's Literature, "With picture books, it is important to look and then look again, to take a more analytical view to find the source of our pleasure." I think this is easily done with Brown Bear Brown Bear What do You See? The illustrations intrigue you and allow you to analyze them without much thought, thinking to yourself...why is that cat purple?