Bear Gets Dressed: A Guessing Game Story

by Harriet Ziefert

What does Bear wear? Let’s look and see. The weather keeps changing, and so does he. It’s very chilly out there, so are shorts the right thing? Oh no—but a bright red sweater keeps him cozy and warm. Every spread offers a selection of items from Bear’s wardrobe; when the flap is opened, there’s Bear, perfectly dressed in the correct garment to enjoy the day, whether there’s rain (a yellow slicker for a muddle, puddle morning), sunshine, snow (green mittens) or wind. Not only will toddlers discover which clothes work in what weather; the text reinforces color basics, too.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Childrens, Animals

16 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1986

About the author

Harriet Ziefert grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, where she attended the local schools. She graduated from Smith College, then received a Masters degree in Education from New York University.

For many years, Ziefert was an elementary school teacher. She taught most grades from kindergarten to fifth grade. "I liked it," she said, but she stopped teaching when she had her own sons. When her children were older, Ziefert wanted "a bigger arena" for her work. She went to work at a publishing company, Scholastic in New York City, developing materials for teacher's guides for kindergarten language arts and social studies programs.

"About twelve years ago," says Ziefert in a 1995 interview, "I tried to get a job as an editor, but no one would hire me as a trade editor. So I decided to write my own books." Since then, she has written several hundred books, mostly picture books and easy-to-read books. "I write books very quickly," she says, "in about twelve hours. I rewrite them three times over three days, and then they're done." She writes about twenty books a year.

Reviews

[Mama Bibliosoph · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Early every morning Bear begins to dress. What will he wear? See if you can guess."

Bear Gets Dressed is a fun guessing game. In each spread, the left-facing page presents three or four possible articles of clothing and rhyming text about the weather. The right facing page shows Bear looking outside at the weather. Lift the flap and see Bear outside wearing the correct choice along with a rhythmic line of prose reinforcing the answer.

If you are worried about this being a lift-the-flap book for your child with fine motor issues, don't be. The "flaps" are entire pages, and the paper used is extremely thick.

Dressing for the weather is an important daily living skill. Right now, my son Luke has an ABA goal of sorting his own clothing into weather categories. This is a perfect book to get extra practice working on those skills.

I'm always hesitant to include out-of-print books in my lists, but when they're this excellent and still widely available in libraries or as used books, I make an exception!

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I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is part of a longer post on books about clothing and dressing:https://www.lineupthebooks.com/dressing/

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple story with lift-the-flaps for kids to guess, based on the weather, what article of clothing bear is going to wear. It's a great read aloud for toddlers - lots of engagement.

[Luz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good guessing game book. Found this in a library book sale.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because I do a family storytime (aka all ages), I like to have different book selections on hand in case the demographic skews a certain way. For my "we get dressed" storytime, I had a VERY restless 1.5 year old, so I decided to skip This is Not My Hat and Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed and went with this book, which is a guessing game. Interactive books are always great for a wide range of children's ages. Ziefert describes the type of day it is (cold, bright, etc.) and three or four clothing items are pictured. Then you lift the flap to see what Bear chose to wear that day. A definite hit!

Ages 2-5. Would work well for a bear storytime, clothes storytime, or winter storytime.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice guessing game book for young children. Great for story time. Very nice child-friendly illustrations. The reader is asked which item of clothing Bear will need for a particular weather condition (rain, snow, etc.).
The watercolor illustrations are by Arnold Lobel. The rotund little bear and the cheerful scenes will amuse small children as they work their way through the book, which is suitable for ages 1-3.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for young children who are learning about clothing and when they should wear each type of clothing. The book is written in a "guessing game" style, and the reader is encouraged to select the clothing item that best suits the weather outside. Very empowering to children as they are starting to name things!

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this today for preschool story time on clothing but would be great for weather units as well. It is a wonderful interactive story that is perfect for preschoolers. Highly recommend. The duo of Harriet Ziefert and Arnold Lobel make this a classic that should be shared for generations. So sad this is out of print.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book about a bear getting dressed for different occasions. Each page talks about the weather and they gives clothing options and flap allows the answer to be revealed toddlers a must maybe even preschoolers.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very cute book that teaches children about the seasons. It also allows them to use their minds to guess what bear will wear. There is some rhyming in the book.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ella likes opening the flaps on this series of books

[Karen Dransfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book about choosing the right clothes for the right weather.