Red Bear

Beginning readers learn new words and colors as they follow Red Bear through his daily activities, from getting dressed, to feeding the cat, to romping through a series of outdoor adventures.

PreSchool-Grade 1-- This simple but engaging book features a bear's encounters with colors as he goes about his day. From the moment Red Bear dons his blue pants and feeds his black cat, children will enjoy the proceedings. The activities aren't exciting, but do have child appeal--he ogles a green caterpillar, gets an orange balloon, and rides a gray elephant. There is no text except for the name of each color printed in large block letters on a page of the same hue. The right-hand page shows Red Bear boldly outlined, with successive pages adding the featured color. The illustrations are basic and use only colors from the text, except for the final spread, which shows Red Bear curled up in bed under a multicolored patchwork blanket. An appealing concept book that will be especially useful for those serving the preschool set. --Lori A. Janick, Parkwood Elementary School, Pasadena, TX
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Red Bear's simple, ungarnished pastimes roll out in vibrant colors. After a good morning stretch, he dresses himself (in blue, yellow and purple), feeds the black cat nuzzling his leg and heads for outdoor adventures involving a caterpillar, an ice cream cone, a balloon and an elephant ride. Prominent india ink outlines of rich oil pastel artwork create a whimsical elegance. Eleven colors strut the pages one by one and, at day's end, settle down in Red Bear's patchwork quilt--giving readers a helpful review. Each of Rikys's abstracted drawings are faced by a page saturated in a single color with its name printed--an instructive, effective, basic tool for color and word recognition. Ages 1-5.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A small, deceptively simple book that introduces the rainbow colors plus black, white, pink, brown, and gray. A red bear dons several garments of different colors, one by one; he feeds his black cat white milk, licks pink ice cream, and rides a gray elephant before snoozing under a patchwork that recapitulates all the colors. Like Byron Barton, Rikys outlines bold areas of vibrant color in black, but her economical designs are uniquely hers, imbued with unusual warmth evoked by her broad but gentle line's embracing curves. Each illustration is simply captioned by a single color word printed on a facing page of the appropriate color. Carefully conceived and unusually effective. (Picture book. 0-5) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.