Orange Pear Apple Bear: Exploring Words and Ideas

Book Title: Orange Pear Apple Bear
Author: Emily Gravett
Type of book: Concept book
Book age range: Birth to preschool
Activity age range: Twelve months* and up
*Please note that this activity includes glue and small parts and is only intended as a supervised activity for toddlers and their caregivers to perform together

Why we like it: In Emily Gravett’s Orange Pear Apple Bear, four simple words are introduced in a variety of ways that change their meanings. For example, on one page readers see an orange and a pear side by side, and on another page readers see a pear that is orange in color. The adorable illustrations of oranges, pears, apples and bears in various contexts stand out against a plain white background and explain the concepts behind the words’ meaning perfectly. Besides, what could be cuter than an apple bear?

Exploring Words and Ideas
You will need:

• An orange

• A pear

• An apple

• A brown paper lunch bag

• Glue stick

• Pre-cut construction paper pieces to create a paper bag bear puppet
• Eyes – two black circles
• Arms – two thin brown rectangles, rounded on one end each
• Ears – two brown circles and two smaller black circles
• Nose – one black triangle
• Mouth – one pink semicircle

Step 1: Be sure to cut out your construction paper shapes ahead of time so your toddler won’t lose interest during setup. Place the construction paper pieces and the fruit inside the brown bag and keep it handy. After reading Orange Pear Apple Bear, present your toddler with the bag.

Step 2: Allow your toddler to explore the contents of the bag and talk about each piece of fruit. Discuss the color, smell, and the texture of each piece. If your child is eating solid foods, he or she may wish to taste the fruit as well.

Step 3: Spread out the pieces of paper that will make up the bear and ask your child to help you create the bear’s face from the pre-cut shapes.

Step 4: Glue the mouth beneath the flap of the bag and the eyes and nose onto the bottom of the bag to form the face.

Step 5: Glue the two small black circles to the brown circles to create ears and glue the bottom third of each ear onto the back of the bag behind the face so that two thirds of each ear is visible.

Step 6: Glue the arms inside the side folds on each side of the bag.  

Hooray! You now have an orange, a pear, an apple, and a bear of your own. Reread the story with the fruit and bear props and have fun acting out the ideas presented in the book. (And when you’re finished, have a healthy, fruity snack!)

References
Gravett, E. (2006). Orange Pear Apple Bear. New York: Little Simon.