Bear in Sunshine

by Stella Blackstone, Debbie Harter (Illustrator)

Join Bear as he introduces various types of weather! Through sun, snow, showers, and thunderstorms, Bear dresses for the weather and teaches young readers about the seasons along the way.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Childrens, Animals, Spanish Literature, France, Summer

24 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

See also: Tessa Strickland

Tessa Strickland is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of independent children’s publisher Barefoot Books. As Stella Blackstone, she has written many bestselling picture books for children. As an editor, she has worked with authors and illustrators all over the world.

—from http://www.arvon.org/tutors/tessa-str...

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very simple text shows what Bear does during each season of the year. There's no real story line so it's probably better for toddlers than preschoolers, but it's definitely a decent addition to a weather or seasons themed story time.

[Mavis’s Dad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bear goes through the seasons, making the best of each. He seems busiest in the winter time, ice skating and building snow bears. Wasn’t he supposed to hibernate?

Moral: There’s no season that you can’t have fun in.

Length: An exceptionally fast read.

Favorite Line: “Bear likes to paint when it’s misty. ”

Overall impression: The illustration where Bear is painting is funny, him in his beret and all. Outside of that, this book is simply too simple. The shapes are lame, the fact Bear has no name is sad, and the authors bounce around the seasons like it’s Spring time in Colorado. There is no character development or rising action in this story. Bear just does stuff in the elements. I’m glad Bear had so much fun because we didn’t.

[Jessie Polson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute little story about Bear who loves all weather! There are different activities Bear likes to do such as building snowmen when it snows, sleeping in when it’s stormy, standing on his head when the moon is out, painting when it’s foggy, and flying his kite when it’s windy. But Bear’s favorite is the sunshine!

[Emily Nofziger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book that offers Spanish language learners the opportunity to learn more vocabulary about outside in Spanish, as it lists the book in English and Spanish and vocabulary in the end. A very helpful and fun read!

[C.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has a nice message for very young children, maybe preschoolers or younger. And cute illustrations. However, I would not recommend this book for teaching explicit French-English translation. Readers will glean its essence, but the translation isn’t precise.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a board book that helps teach children about the four seasons

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bilingual version available. Great for younger kids, rhyming text every three pages.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bear enjoys doing various activities in various types of weather through the seasons. This would be a great tool for teaching about weather. My storytime kids seemed engaged by it.

[Allyson Goose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bright illustrations in a cheery book about the seasons. My kindergartener was proud to read it all by himself.

[Chad Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A big bear experiences many activities during all the seasons.

[Juan Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Playful and nicely illustrated book about the weather and the activities Bear does. It's simple and fun and my son loves it. We read it over and over again, the translation is really good too. :)

[Brandon Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Fiction/Play/Family
Ages 2-6
Level D
This story highlights how the changes in the seasons bring a young bear so much joy and happiness.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this brightly illustrated board book about Bear, the young book lover gets to learn some things about the seasons, as Bear - in rhyming text - enjoys them all.

[Molly Lynne]

Read in Spanish

[Connie Heneghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cheerful board book about weather and the seasons.

[Becca Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is super fun! I will definitely be including this book in my future classroom. This is a bilingual book and includes English and Spanish text, this would be perfect for my ELL classroom.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

Checked out from Reedsburg Library in WI

[Caroline Petty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that can be used to teach the definition of verbs and how we use them when we speak and write. The bear in the book is very active and is often doing things that call for a verb to be used. It also promotes a need for people to move around, accomplish things, or just have fun. It is an easy book to teach students to recognize when they use a verb in everyday conversation or through the physical process of doing something.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a bilingual English/Spanish book that focuses on different types of weather. The Spanish storytelling collection doesn't have many age-appropriate stories about weather, so I elected to add a storytelling copy as a short concept story to use at the beginning or end of a story time program involving weather.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bright, cute illustrations of Bear playing in all sorts of weather.

[Anaeka · Rating 2 out of 5]

We never really got into it. Illustrations were nice. Simple sentences how different things a bear (child) would do.

[Debra]

Stella Blackstone

Gr. K - 2

Rhyming Text - Colorful Watercolor Art - Weather and Seasons

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. Teaches some weather words. Nice pictures.

[Kayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for a lesson on weather to 3rd graders. It was a simple book with nice illustrations. Great for eliciting information from my students.

[Caroline]

Read to juniors 02/2013

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The translation of this book is very direct and doesn't necessarily reflect natural French, but the pictures are lovely and the story is good for ECE level readers.

[Leah]

Good book for toddlers or younger preschool.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

English-french bilingual book.