Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? sound book (Brown Bear and Friends) Board book – Sound Book, November 8, 2011

Perfect board book for my 21 month old son ❤️

My 9-month old LOVES this book! It's my "when all else fails" entertainment I use when he needs to be settled down. It has pulled us through tough times at the doctor's office and on long trips.My baby enjoys the simplistic, yet textural illustrations as well as the strange sounds the animals make. I confess, I bought a barnyard book before this one, thinking my baby would like cow and chicken sounds better than whatever sound a hippo makes, but for him there is no comparison. He really likes all the funky sounds in this book.Pros- durable pages- holds my baby's interest- sounds go in order with book (my barnyard book was all over the place with the sound line up)Cons- some reviewers have complained about battery problems, so check your book as soon as you get it so you will have time to send it back if there is an issue- no polar bear sound, which would be nice for the end of the story. I invent my own for the children in the end of the story. Come to think of it though, my son may view this as a PRO since it encourages a little bit of silliness on my part.I highly recommend this book!

Great for children

Our 2 year old adores this book! He loves to say the animal names and make the animal sounds as we turn the pages. He loves it so much he has the majority of the pages memorized. We love the colors of all our Eric Carle books!

One of our favorite interactive books! We keep it in the car for a fun activity while riding in the car.

If your little’s love books, get this one and the others in the series! We read this almost every day and my son now knows all the animals!

This twentieth-anniversary edition of the classic “Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?”, written by beloved children’s author Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by the renowned artist Eric Carle, has been updated with a larger format, a reinforced binding, and an accompanying CD of the story read by Gwyneth Paltrow. The book is part of a series of rhythmic, rhyming texts with vibrant, full-color illustrations that introduce toddlers and kindergartners to a host of zoo animals and the sounds they make. In addition to the polar bear, we encounter a lion, hippopotamus, flamingo, zebra, boa constrictor, elephant, leopard, peacock, walrus, and a zookeeper who hears the children as they follow the story with imitations of the animal sounds introduced in the text. It’s a delightful tale sure to engage children and bound to become a favorite bedtime story. The text is large and bold for easy reading by children. However, while the text, drawings, and sensory lessons are most admirable and the book is well worth the price, I have two criticisms. The sounds the animals purportedly make are not always accurate. For example, while lions do, indeed, roar and elephants do trumpet, hippopotamuses do not snort (they grunt, growl, roar, and wheeze), zebras do not bray (they neigh, whinny, and nicker [donkeys bray!]), and peacocks do not yelp (they scream, squawk, and honk). Walruses are the most vocal of the pinnipeds: they growl, tap, knock, grunt, bark, whistle, rasp, and click, but they do not bellow. I’m also concerned about the use of a CD for storytelling. CDs could be useful for older children or for children left to their own devices, but toddlers would benefit most when stories are read to them during bonding sessions with parents, siblings, extended family, and friends. Of course, not all children are lucky enough to have parents or other family members who read to them. These criticisms notwithstanding, “Polar Bear” has many excellent qualities and is recommended. The illustrations alone are worth the price of the book and reading rhymes and evoking sounds are particularly appealing to children. Other books in the series by this dynamic duo include “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?”, “Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do you See?”, and “Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?”

Came as described with no flaws. My toddler loves this book and we read it every night!