Bear on a Bike
Book Mentors read Bear on a Bike to Head Start children at the Urbana Head Start facility, Kellie Blanden
Spark your pre-school aged child’s imagination as they go on an adventure-packed ride with Bear from Bear on a Bike by Stella Blackstone. Your child will have many opportunities to test their observational skills along the way! This is the second book in WILL- TV’s Book Mentor Project, a partnership between WILL, PNC’s Grown Up Great program and Champaign County Head Start.
Bear on a Bike follows a young boy as he tries to keep up with his very active friend, Bear, who is on an adventure to discover new things all around their world. In order to have all these new experiences, Bear uses many types of transportation to travel to fun locations. The book provides opportunities for readers to interact with their child. When Bear’s friend asks him where he is off to, you can ask your child to think about where he could be going and why.
The story also gives children a chance to work on their observational skills. You and your child can play “I Spy” with the different modes of transportation as you read. As your child anticipates this, they will pay more attention to what they are seeing. Games are always fun and they keep children more attentive. They can also learn the words for each of the different forms of transportation they encounter which will benefit their language development. As they learn the name of each form of transportation, think about how you can talk about the different characteristics each one has. Ask your child questions such as: How many wheels does the bike have? Does a boat fly or go through water?
WILL-TV’s Book Mentors are volunteers who go into Champaign County Head Start classrooms to read these books to the children and participate in a book-related activity. The mentors had a lot of fun reading the book to the children because it was so easy to get them engaged. Each mentor read the book differently and all said the kids loved it. Some of the children were jumping out of their reading spots to make sure they got to answer questions about where Bear was going. In one classroom, a student recognized Bear from a different book in the series. The fact that they “knew” Bear made the reading that much more fun for the class.
Each child got to keep a copy of Bear on a Bike for their home libraries. The book for the December reading is I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis and Alison Jay.
If you are also interested in learning about our October book, Please, Mr. Panda, click here.