Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?

Jesse Bear

by Nancy White Carlstrom, Bruce Degen (Illustrator)

Now, the very youngest of readers can join in the fun with this Classic Board Book™ edition of Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? In joyful verse and vibrant illustrations, Nancy White Carlstrom and Bruce Degen's lovable Jesse Bear shares his special day with young children everywhere!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Family, Poetry, Pre K

32 pages, Board Book

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Nancy White Carlstrom has written more than 50 books for children, including the Jesse Bear series with illustrator Bruce Degan.

Born the daughter of steel mill worker William J. and Eva (Lawrence) White, Nancy White Carlstrom was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, on August 4, 1948. She practiced writing poetry, enjoyed reading books like Little Women, and wanted to become a children’s book author at an early age. Carlstrom worked in the children’s department of her local library in Washington during her high school years. She graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, majoring in Elementary Education and earning her B.A. in 1970, also studying at Harvard Extension School and Radcliffe from 1974 to 1976. In September of 1974, she married David R. Carlstrom, later a pilot and a marketing director at Fairbanks International Airport. They had two children—Jesse and Joshua.

She draws inspiration from her 18 years living in Alaska, volunteer experiences in Africa and Haiti, and raising her two sons.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jesse Bear takes us through his daily routine, telling us what he wears in the morning, afternoon and evening. What he wears gets a little silly, abstract, and downright poetic at times, which left me cold.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom, illustrated by Bruce Degen, c. 1986.
The author has written a set of these rhyming picture books about the everyday life of toddlers. Bruce Degen is one of my favorite illustrators of cute little bears (as in his book Jamberry), so a perfect combination.

In the morning, Jesse Bear will wear his shirt of red pulled over his head, and his pants that dance. At noon, he'll wear carrots and peas (and a little more please), Celery crunch and sprouts in a bunch, An apple to bite and a moustache of white. At night, he will wear water to float his bubbles and boat in the tub, his pj's with feet and a face on the seat, a blanket that's blue and plays peek-a-boo. After kisses and hugs, he'll wear sleep in his eyes and stars in the skies, moon on his bed and dreams in his head.

Although there are 14 books in the series, this original one is my favorite. The others, in order of publication are:
• 1988 Better Not Get Wet, Jesse Bear
• 1990 It’s About Time, Jesse Bear
• 1992 How Do You Say It Today, Jesse Bear?
• 1994 Happy Birthday, Jesse Bear
• 1994 Jesse Bear’s Tra-LA Tub
• 1994 Jesse Bear’s Tum-Tum Tickle
• 1994 Jesse Bear’s Wiggle-Jiggle Jump-up
• 1994 Jesse Bear’s Yum-Yum Crumble
• 1996 Let’s Count it Out, Jesse Bear
• 1998 Guess Who’s Coming, Jesse Bear?
• 1999 What a Scare, Jesse Bear (Halloween)
• 2000 Where is Christmas, Jesse Bear? (by Bruce Degen)
• 2004 Climb the Family Tree, Jesse Bear

[Ronan Crutchfield]

What a cute book! I liked it a lot

[Anna Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A childhood favorite of mine, especially the lunchtime pages.

[Ellyn (Mrs. Darcy in my Dreams) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this sooooo many times I practically have it memorized!! Ours was a board book and it was much loved.

[Amy Buthelezi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This humorous story teaches children time and routines as a little bear goes throughout his day. I enjoyed the illustrations which depicted the various steps a child can relate to. The story also teaches clothing and body parts. The story contains rhyming words and a variety of vocabulary words, as well.

[Rebecca Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this charming, rhyming story about Jesse Bear describing his day in terms of things he will "wear". For example, he wears his chair for lunch, lol. Too cute. The warm, cartoon-style illustrations are great and I can remember hearing this when I was a child. Great for Pre-school/Kindergarten.

[Margaret Chind · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it. I'll have to look for more Jesse Bear.

[Erin Hendrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books when I was little, and now I enjoy reading it to Beatrice. :)

[Crissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute.

[Cosette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would not believe it - but this book is BETTER when it is read to me!!

[Marci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joey and I loved this book. It was fun to read and Joey LOL'd repeatedly.

[Emily Scanlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guided Reading Level: 2.5

Summary: “Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?”, follows a young cub named Jesse Bear, throughout his day as he describes the different outfits and items he wears. This book demonstrates how our bodies interact with the world around us as we change activities.

Characteristics That Support the Genre: The text alone may confuse young readers because of the use of analogies. As a result, the pictures do a wonderful job explaining what Jesse Bear means when he says, “I’ll wear the sun, on my legs that run, sun on the run in the morning.” The illustrations in “Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?” take up the majority of the page, and help readers derive meaning.

Mentor Writing Traits: (1) Sentence Fluency – The text phrases in this book rhyme and flow well throughout the story. It has a lyrical quality that young readers will appreciate. (2) Organization – “Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?” takes the reader through Jesse Bear’s entire day, from the moment he gets up, to when he is put to bed. The logical order will keep readers’ attention and allow them to follow along. (3) Presentation – The illustrations in this book enhance the story’s readability. For example, on each page, the text has a colorful border around it. This separates the text from the illustration, draws the reader’s attention, and allows for an eye pleasing appearance.

Classroom Integration: The time that passes in the story is logical and depicts Jesse Bear’s entire day. When read aloud to students, this book would help students recognize and utilize organization in their own writing. For example, the class could practice organization by writing their own “What Will You Wear?” stories. In these stories, students would tell the reader about their daily lives by detailing what they “wear” throughout the day.

Other Suggestions: I would recommend this book to students in second grade. For further integration, it could be used to help students identify sentence fluency in writing.

[Teagan Aune · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of poems and unique drawings this book will keep readers young and old entertained from cover to cover. The poems are clever and imaginative and will transport readers to a world unknown. There’s poems about Backward Bill, the Meehoo with an Exactlywatt, Sour Face Ann, and many other characters that Shel Silverstein has created. Some of the poems can be seen as creepy, scary, or disturbing but I loved them as a kid and still find them entertaining as an adult. I think the pictures included add to the book too because they add a visual to the creations that Shel Silverstein came up with. At times they add more to the words because they have hidden details that are not directly stated in the text. I think it would work well in a low grade elementary classroom if it was read out loud to the students. A couple poems could be read to the students and then as a class they can be read again together. The different elements found in the poems could also be discussed. The students could learn about rhythm and rhyme, alliteration, tone, and language through the poems in this book.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second childhood reread! My mom got out this box in the garage with a bunch of my memorabilia that she'd kept. Since none of us are the "proper" age to read picture books anymore, she gave away a lot of them. But some very special ones she kept. And this was one of my favorites! Obviously because I have the same name as the bear. I also just love the wholesome, childhood, stay at home, mundane, daily life type of stories. The illustrations really make it for me! I think it's because as a child the pictures were most important to me. I didn't care so much about the words. When I read picture books now I focus less on staring at the drawings than I do on finishing the book. I need to get back to my picture-loving roots!!
(KIDS)

[Brandice Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book with some rhyming words in it. It has a few words which is great for early readers. The pictures take up the majority of the book which I like for reading in a classroom for early readers/listeners. This book talks about the things Jesse Bear will wear throughout the day. This can be used when talking about sequencing, what the kids wear over the weekend, at night, or when they play outside. It also says in the book what Jesse Bear will wear for lunch which can be fun for the kids.

[Sterlande Altidor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This just might be my 4 year old son’s favorite book. The illustrations are bright and pleasing. Jesse Bear is such a delightful story. This is an excellent book. This book focuses on younger children, but is interesting and fun for all to read. It's a great book to introduce your child to the colors red and blue, the idea of a schedule for the day that consists of dressing for the day, playing, eating lunch, and taking a bath before bedtime

[Meghan GTC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the repetition of this book, I feel like it would be easy for children to relate to the things that Jesse does during his morning routine as they probably do them as well. The use of language in this book was also easy to follow and understand. My only critique would be that the illustrations are very busy and may distract children with too many thoughts at once.

[Tameka Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great illustrations and pleasing rhyme my mother bought this book a year or to ago its defiantly a great gift for toddlers & young children. My kids wanted read this book again and again and have memorized certain parts of the book lol. I like the fact that it is available as a board book as for my youngest.

[Fourth Grade · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book Jessie Bear what will you wear is a book based on a bear who doesn't know what to wear. Jessie's mother keeps asking what Jessie wants to wear. Jessie's mother is curious about what Jessie will wear. Although Jessie Bear what will you wear is a funny rhyming book, I really don't see the moral or lesson of the story. I wouldn't recommend this book for any children at all.

[Moore, Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Jessie Bear, What Will You Wear?" by Nancy White Carlstrom is classified as juvenile fiction; targeting ages 2 and up. This book is a fun selection for discussing proper dress and clothing, bears, some cause and effect. This story is light-hearted and charming, and it offers vocabulary enrichment for emergent readers.

[Abigail Mayeske · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot. It made me think of the Franklin cartoons on PBS with its' wholesome illustrations and old timey feel. I loved the representation of a child's daily routine and how the child understood why things were done a certain way. I also liked the child getting messy and how it really looked like the day in the life of a child.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an okay book. I didn't really like it as I thought I would (I love books about bears). There are many phrases that are repeated throughout the book and I wasn't a fan of that. The illustrations are awesome, but the story could be better. I think I expected more from the story and that's why I was disappointed in this book.

[Jer Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is an unfortunate, recurring typographical error in my copy of the book; the title character is repeatedly asked variations of "Jesse Bear, what will you wear?" when clearly the inquiry is supposed to read, "Jer Bear, what will you wear?"

A fine story nonetheless. I expect the publisher corrected this error in subsequent printings of the book.

[Elisa Pereyra-Molina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rhyming children's board book. Jesse bear tells the readers what clothes he plans to wear. Jesse is pictured alone and with his family in an array of outfits that will bring smiles to young readers.

[Juliana Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jesse Bear chooses what he will wear in the morning, noon, and night. He chooses his red shirt, pants that dance, sand on his arm, rice in his hair, bubbles in the tub, feet on his pi's, and much more.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute, highly creative way of describing one's daily activities... (in this case, a typical day for the young Jesse Bear).

The kids laughed when I read that Jesse Bear was going to wear a chair because he was stuck there at lunchtime.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brightly illustrated, beautifully rhyming story about a happy bear cub, Jesse Bear. With a little help from his mother, he chooses what clothes to wear at different times during his day. He even wears his dreams at night. Sweet story.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very sweet, relaxed story about Jesse Bear and what he wears throughout the day. But don't be fooled that the book is strictly about clothing.

It has a nice rhyming cadence and nice illustrations.

[Shantay Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book because its melodic. The words rhyme and are repetitive. The book shows time of day and appropriate clothing for different times. Its also not very long which is a plus for smaller or younger children.