Bear at Home/Oso en casa
By Stella Blackstone • Illustrated by Debbie Harder
Barefoot Books • 2010 • 24 pages
Paperback ($6.99)
ISBN 978-1-84686-422-3
Ages 2-6
This newly available bilingual edition combines previously separate English and Spanish editions into a single book. Readers are introduced to Bear as he takes them on a tour of his home. We follow him through the first floor playroom, dining room, living room, kitchen and hallway, leading to the upstairs portion of the house. Upstairs is Bear’s lively bedroom, bathroom decorated in bright fish motifs, study, and the landing that leads back to the stairs. Bear’s black and white striped cat is found happily carousing throughout the book.
Read Related: Higher! Higher!/¡Más alto! ¡Más alto!
The poetic English version of the text uses clever rhymes to link each page and is reminiscent of Goodnight Moon in its use of child-friendly repetition. Harter’s illustrations use brightly colored crayons, watercolor and pen and ink. At the end of the tour, children will find a floor plan of the downstairs and upstairs labeled in English and Spanish that will be very popular with children who are—or wish to be—bilingual. Teachers and parents will find a glossary of the English and Spanish terms used in the back of the book.
—Reviewed by Dr. Veronica Covington, School of Information, University of Texas, Austin
