The "Above and Beyond Award" goes to....

Two of my colleagues at Tates Creek Middle School, Tricia Calico-Cohron and Katie Fielding. These ladies spent several precious weekend hours illustrating the characters from the children's book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, using flour, sugar, eggs and a lot of ingenuity.

Katie and Tricia were entering a contest sponsored by the McConnell Center for the Study of Youth Literature at the University of Kentucky, which, I am happy to say, they won.

A bit of research uncovers some interesting facts about Bill Martin, the author of Brown Bear, Brown Bear. According to his dear friend and the book's illustrator, Eric Carle, Martin couldn't read until he was 20 years old. At that time a teacher identified his problem and taught him to read by using rhyming.

Brown Bear was published in 1967. Listen to the words in the book, and see if you can find the beat.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?

I see a red bird looking at me.

Red Bird, Red Bird, What do you see?


I see a yellow duck looking at me.

Yellow Duck, Yellow Duck, what do you see?


I see a blue horse looking at me.

Blue Horse, Blue Horse, what do you see?

I see a green frog looking at me.


Green Frog, Green Frog, what do you see?

I see a purple cat, looking at me.

Purple Cat, Purple Cat, what do you see?


I see a white dog looking at me.

White Dog, White Dog, what do you see?

I see a black sheep looking at me.

Black Sheep, Black Sheep, what do you see?

I see a gold fish looking at me.

Gold Fish, Gold Fish, what do you see?

I see a teacher looking at me.

Teacher, Teacher, what do you see?
I see children looking at me.

Children, children, what do you see?

We see a: brown bear...a red bird...a yellow duck...a blue horse...a green frog...a purple cat...a white dog...a black sheep...a goldfish...and a teacher
Looking at us! That's what we see!

Mr. Carle is also quoted as saying that it is possible that children respond to this rhythm because they are close to the heartbeat of their mother before birth.

Bill Martin has been called America's favorite children's author and published books for almost 60 years before passing away in 2004 at the age of 88.