“The Three Bears” by Byron Barton

I LOVE Byron Barton’s illustrations so much. They
are bright, bold, childlike, and accessible to even
the littlest children. Isn’t it annoying when children’s
books have charming, “artistic,” illustrations but
they’re incomprehensible to children? If three-year-olds
can’t tell which animal is the duck, or thinks a bear
is a dragon, there’s a problem. 

Barton’s pictures are wonderful and his telling of
the familiar story is also clear and simple. Children
love to join in on the lines, “Someone’s been sitting
in my chair!”, etc., and also enjoy hearing me say
Baby Bear’s lines in a high, light voice.

There are also a lot of super tie-in activities to
do with “The Three Bears.” Children love the 
Wiggles’ songs “Here Comes a Bear” and
“Rockabye Your Bear” (that one is really adorable).
Another fun thing I love to do is to wash out those 
bear-shaped plastic honey jars and half-fill them
with rice (or to be more seasonal, acorns, or even
oatmeal, which you can explain to them is the 
same as “porridge” in the story) – then use the
“bear shakers” to make some music!