Eye Candy! Bear Sees Colors by Karma Wilson

MOUSE AND BEAR ARE WALKING.
CHITTER-CHATTER TALKING.
SO MUCH FOR THEM TO DO,
AND BEAR SEES... BLUE!

Out strolling with his trusty sidekick, Mouse, Bear suddenly becomes aware of

BLUE DRAGONFLIES, BLUEBERRIES...
BLUE EVERYWHERE!

Bear has as epiphany! Once he starts thinking about blue, he suddenly sees it everywhere, But then....

Hare howdy-doos them from down the trail and points out something ahead.... RED.

Ooh! Right away Bear sees red raspberries on the bush.

Down by the pond Badger bops by in red overshoes, just as Bear sees... YELLOW bees!

And suddenly there are yellow things all around. Wow.

But Mole has a different view down by stream. He spots GREEN.

Before the woodland stroll is done, all of Bear's friends get into the fun. The picnicking Wren, Raven, and Owl are just sitting down, when Bear sees something yummy and BROWN!

The well-browned cookies are passed around, and a good time is had by all in Karma Wilson's first concept book starring her beloved Bear, Bear Sees Colors (The Bear Books) (Margaret K. Elderry Books, 2014). As an introductory colors book for the nursery school set, as a review for older youngsters, or even as an easy reader, Wilson's rhythm and rhyme put kids through their paces, while Jane Chapman's familiar illustrations are just as charming as ever for fans of Wilson's best-selling Bear series, which began with Bear Snores On (The Bear Books) in 2002.

For a fascinating follow up, add Herve' Tullet's delightful new hit, Mix It Up! (see recent review here) to the color mashup to take the color session to a new level.

Counting on One Paw: Bear Counts by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

MOUSE AND BEAR SHARE BREAKFAST.
BASKING IN THE MORNING SUN.
BEAR LOOKS UP AND POINTS,
AND THE BEAR COUNTS... ONE!

Fresh from his mastery of colors, here comes Karma Wilson's beloved Bear in his second concept book, Bear Counts (The Bear Books) (Margaret K. Elderry Books, 2015). This time it's numbers, numbers everywhere for Bear as the day begins.

There's just one robin up in the nest, and just one fresh berry left, which Mouse offers Bear before they begin the day. Down the path they meet Hare with a pair of apples, so Bear adds them to his count. Soon the story begins to get crowded.

BEAR HEARS FUNNY SOUNDS
COMING FROM AN ASPEN TREE.
IT'S RAVEN, OWL, AND WREN,
AND THE BEAR COUNTS... THREE!

NUMBERS, NUMBERS, EVERYWHERE.
1, 2, 3!

As they have throughout their best-selling Bear Books,  author Karma Wilson and ace artist Jane Chapman work together to re-create the charming friendship circle of Bear, Mouse, Hare, and the rest, this time to teach a counting lesson set in Wilson's familiar bouncy verses ("lovely lily pads" rhymed with "pinching crawdads") which count up to five and offer plenty of review in the easy-going "numbers everywhere" refrain which follows each quatrain.

Artist Jane Chapman alternates spot art and full-bleed spreads to introduce the usual forest crew in bright acrylic paintings loaded with lots of countable things besides those in the text. In the final two-page spread Chapman gives the reader a glorious underwater scene as the animals, even the clawful crawdad, jump into the pond for a refreshing swim. For the youngest who may have not met Bear before in Wilson and Chapman's large format picture books, this new series is a great introduction to the friends and fun the longer books offer. Pair this one with its predecessor concept book, Bear Sees Colors (The Bear Books), (see review here) and you can count on requests to "read it again!"