About the Book

He's back and ready for another adventure!!! Bear About Town is a simple board book -- written for toddlers and younger preschoolers -- about Bear's adventures each day of the week as he goes into town. He stops at a different location each day including the movies, the swimming pool and the toy store. At the end of the book is a two-page map where your child can trace Bear's path throughout the town. Also, inside the front and back covers are different items that bear visited, used or purchased in his trips to town. Your child can learn to identify these items and pick out from which day they were used.

Author Stella Blackstone has also penned numerous other children's books including Making Minestrone, I Dreamt I Was a Dinosaur and Bear on a Bike. With Blackstone, Debbie Harter has also illustrated many children's books including Thesauras Rex, Bear at Home and Bear's Busy Family.

From The Reviewer

Bear About Town is a very simple and easy-to-read book -- perfect for the young one whose attention span is no more than a few minutes. While the is for babies and toddlers, my older preschooler enjoyed watching where the bear was going each day. The sing-song rhyme of the story -- which is 67 words long -- allows your child to identify Bear with his/her own life and the places s/he visits daily. This is a great learning tool that can help your child understand the days of the week and possibly even the concept of time.

I recommend Bear About Town for children under 5 years old.

Visually Stimulating

The friendly and colorful illustrations in Bear About Town tell a story by themself. All of the animals in the pictures are all bears and they all look very happy and friendly. Nothing scary about these pictures.

Board Books Aren't Only for Babies

This Barefoot Board Book is the perfect size for small hands -- 6.5 x 6.7 x 0.8 inches. Young preschoolers or toddlers can't rip the pages and older ones can play with the book without worrying about pages being ripped.

Book Details

Title: Bear About Town

Reading level: Baby to preschool

Board book: 24 pages

Publisher: Barefoot Books; Book & CD edition (March 2001)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1841483737

ISBN-13: 978-1841483733

What are Your Comments About This Book?

Share your comments with other parents who may be interested in this book and CD.

Bear About Town Preschool Activities

Tot About Town Preschool Activity

Who says Bear is the only one who can map out his week? With this preschool activity, your child can make his/her own map and pinpoint different places s/he travels to on a daily basis.

This is My Town Preschool Activity

Preschoolers can really learn more about the town or neighborhood they live in by doing this fun activity. It is a very visual project that re

Helpful Tips for Parents

• Keep supplies accessible at child height so your preschooler can initiate activities independently — self-initiated play delivers the strongest developmental benefits.

• Sensory activities (water, sand, playdough, rice) are especially valuable for anxious or dysregulated children — they have a calming neurological effect.

• Rainy days are activity opportunities, not obstacles. Build an indoor obstacle course, create a fort, or set up a water tray in the bathtub.

• Keep activity sessions shorter than you think necessary. Ending while children are still engaged leaves them wanting more — far better than waiting for meltdown.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get my preschooler to try new activities?

New activities need low-pressure introduction. Set the activity up invitingly and let the child approach at their own pace — forcing participation in new activities creates resistance. Joining the activity yourself (playing with the materials in their presence) is the most reliable way to ignite curiosity. A child who watches a parent enjoy something usually wants to try it.

Related reading: See also our science experiments and our obstacle course ideas for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 😌 Emotional Self-Regulation — Managing the feelings that arise during activities — frustration when something doesn't work, excitement, disappointment at the end — builds the self-regulation foundation that distinguishes emotionally ready kindergarteners.
• 🧠 Executive Function — Planning an activity, following multi-step directions, and seeing a project through to completion builds the executive function skills — working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control — that are the strongest predictors of school success.
• 🏃 Gross Motor Development — Large-movement activities develop the coordination, balance, and muscle strength that underpin physical confidence and school-readiness fitness.
• 🧩 Problem Solving — Working through a challenge — figuring out how pieces fit, how to balance a stack, or how to make something work — develops the perseverance and logical reasoning skills children use across every learning domain.

Bear About Town

Written by Stella Blackstone

Illustrated by Debbie Harter

From The Book

"On Sunday, he goes to the playground and plays with his friends until dark."