Where Have You Been?

by Margaret Wise Brown, Leo Dillon (Illustrator)

Where has the Little Old Cat been? To see this and that
Said the Little Old Cat . . . Where does the Little Old Fish swim? Wherever I wish
Said the Little Old Fish . . . Have you also wondered where a cat or a squirrel has been or where a bird flies or a whale sails? How about why a bunny runs? With playful, rhyming verse, where have you been? perfectly captures the wonderful, wise questions that children ask every day. The treasured text by Margaret Wise Brown, author of goodnight moon, has been newly illustrated by two-time Caldecott Medalists Leo and Diane Dillon, creating a picture-book classic that children will love to see, to hear, and to read again and again.

Genres: Picture Books, Poetry, Childrens

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Margaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Even though she died nearly 70 years ago, her books still sell very well.

Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.

She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.

She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.

Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I much prefer the edition of this with Cooney's art, instead of that of the Dillons. Now don't misunderstand; the Dillons do amazing work and their pictures are more lively and busy. But they have an owl interposed between the animals and the reader; the owl is asking the questions. And imo that throws the whole concept that Brown intended upside-down... this book is supposed te be a direct engagement of the young reader (well, with the care-giver doing the actual lap-sit reading, anyway) and the owl is just interference, imo.

Still, neither version is terrific. This one, at least, is free to borrow on openlibrary.org.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Old Bee
Little Old Bee
Where have you been?
In a pink apple tree
Said the Little Old Bee
That's where I've been.

This book is about an owl who is researching and recording where animals have been. On each page, she approaches each animal and asks them where they have been (with a few notable exceptions, like asking the rook where he looks).

The page on the left shows Owl speaking the the animal, and has the text. The page on the right shows a beautiful full-page illustration of the animal doing whatever it is they are telling Owl about.

The illustrations are really quite clever. For instance, the frog says that he's been sitting on a log. Sounds boring, right? Not so. Instead we see him perched on a vertical log as fairies standing in boats cut it down with a huge saw. It's a logging operation!

Fairies appear in almost every illustration.

Tl;dr - Even though I was skeptical about this book, I must say that it really won me over. The catchy rhyming scheme and the cute and creative illustrations will end up delighting both children and the adult reading to them. Adults might recognize Brown as the author of the timeless classic Goodnight Moon. This book was published in 1952.

Ages 3-6.

Not available in Spanish.

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this whilst looking up reference for a work-related project, and just couldn't resist the artwork. Barbara Cooney's illustrations are lovely, black and white with that pop of red... I also loved all the little details in the drawings.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

The copy I have of this book is pretty petite; which adds to the cuteness of the book. With darling illustrations of woodland creatures by the one and only Barbara Cooney, and the simple but quaint verse from Margaret Wise Brown, this is surely a classic little treasure. It's a little hard to find but worth the effort.

Ages: 3 - 6

[Kelsey Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written with short verses on each page and features a new animal in each verse, all of which answer the question “where have you been?” Barbara Cooney’s illustrations are detailed and fun. The name of the animal always rhyme’s with the answer to where the animal has been. One example is the fish- “where does the little old fish swim? Wherever I wish said the little old fish.” I would use this book with kindergarten and first graders to work on rhyming words and have them predict where each animal has been. They could do this by finding the rhyming words and guessing based off of that.

[Harrison Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where Have You Been? takes the reader through a journey to discover where each animal that crosses its path comes from and what it does. With that said I would definitely recommend this book for a Pre-K to 1st grade classroom where they will begin developing the skills to understand what all of this means and what each animal is. The book also uses a lot of rhyming to get its point across which is why I placed it in the Poetry category. "Little old cat, little old cat, Where have you been? To see this and that said the little old cat, that's where I've been." shows some repetition in sounds and rhymes which would be great for a lesson in poetry.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

(First of all, I'm rating the edition illustrated by the Dillons--I'd love to track down the other!)

I love the whimsical interpretation of this tale by the Dillons. The text is simple enough to read to toddlers. The illustrations, though, are sophisticated enough that older children will enjoy looking at them. The Dillons flesh out the text significantly in their illustrations and, if you look closely, you will notice that each animal in talking to the owl bears some clue to their activity on the facing page.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this title and what a combination, rhyming text by Margaret Wise Brown copyrighted in 1952 with 2006 illustrations done by the Dillions. The rhyming text reminds me of the Mother Goose rhyme "Pussy Cat Pussy Cat where have you been" and the text also is a call and response type both techniques can engage a child into the story.
The illustrations were whimsical and as I looked at the owl I said I think it is a female because it is wearing pearls!
A very well done title from three greats in the field of children's literature.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written with short verses on each page featuring a new animal in each verse, answering the question, where have you been? Barbara Cooney’s illustrations are detailed and fun. The name of the animal always rhyme’s with the answer to where the animal has been.

This is fun for kids to practice hearing and making up rhyme’s. I would use this with K-1st graders to work on rhyming words and have them predict where each animal has been by finding rhyming words and guessing.

[T Crockett · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the sort of rhyming book that I've never found children to be interested in. I know the repetitive structure helps early readers, but there's no point to the rhymes, nothing to be curious about or interested in. After a couple pages they wander off. A book like We're Going on a Bear Hunt uses repetition in a much more interesting way.

[Lana Clifton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wise author tells of a wise owl is asking one very wise question. Where have the animals of the forest been? Children enjoy hearing this predictable read aloud repetitively. Ask Pre-K to Kindergarten to predict where each animal has been-- hinting to words that rhyme.

[Jorgina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had this book since I was a little girl. Barbara Cooney made animals sweetly magical. The drawings are simple and good in my version which is over 40 years old.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice pictures, even though I don't really go in for all that Waldorf fairy stuff. But the prose is repetitive yet creative and the pictures add a nice surprise.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sort of reminds me of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, I like the illutstrations, but I don't think I would use it in a story time

[Jessie Horcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminds me a lot of Eric Carl's Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you see? I like it because it is fun and has a lot of descriptive actions.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a pretty simple book but I love the illustrations: the people are all different colors and shapes and hairstyles, all working with stylized animals or machines.

[Scott Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's a cute book.

[Hope L. Justice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations and recalling some of literature's beloved characters.

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fav author and illustrator combined! But somehow little known, from what I can tell. I had never heard of it before I happened upon it in a Little Free Library. Margaret Wise Brown has that somewhat mysterious poeticism that kids can't resist. I LOVE this style of simple 2-color illustrations. I may buy another copy so I can frame the delighted frog in the strawberries for my wall.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The text is wonderfully descriptive and lyrical, and the illustrations are sheer perfection.

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay poem about a owl asking a variety of animals where they have been and their answers. Perhaps meant for a younger set than the boys (7yo and 4yo).

Cute enough illustrations.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rhymes are simple and cute, but it is the illustrations that make this book really enjoyable. I loved the little fairies and mermaids that were interacting with the different animals.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

On deck as a writing launch.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have the older edition with the Cooney illustrations which suit the story better. It's very sweet and short, a keeper for sure!

[Andelyn Briggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would be a great book to support young children’s literacy! Lots of repetitive phrases

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two versions of this. The Cooney illustrations are black, white, and red, with a lot of tonal variation between the spreads, some cute, some wondrous (the deer!), some rendered piecemeal, some full tableaux with backgrounds. Set against that is MWB's simplistic text: a list of things, a call and response, with minimal narrative movement. It's probably best for very young readers. Likeable (really, that deer illustration's beautiful) but not hugely memorable.

The Dillon is very different. The art is doing a lot of heavy lifting, here: the owl asking each animal where they've been provides an overarching narrative, and each panel is a full-color, wildly creative inset narrative, ex. the toad up the road has been going on a roadtrip with a few fairies. It's a fascinating reinterpretation, vibrant and quirky and probably excessive; I wonder, paired with the very simple text, there's no ideal readership. But do I like it? Oh, yes.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

An inquiring Owl takes quill and paper in hand, and questions several animals where they have been, and what they have been doing. They all answer using rhyme in their responses as the Owl dictates their answers in a book to be read later.

[Devin Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute and very short read.
Honestly I read this purely for the artwork by Barabra Cooney. The toad holding strawberries was my favorite by far.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The question is "Where have you been?" The answer comes from different animals - cat, squirrel, fish, bird, horse, toad, fog, mole, bee, whale, bunny, lion, mouse, and rook. Gorgeous illustrations.