Books Like Brown Bear Brown Bear That You’ll Love

POLAR BEAR POLAR BEAR WHAT DO YOU HEAR?

Polar Bear Polar Bear focuses the sounds instead of what is seen so your child can learn the different noises that animals make – and my little one LOVES chanting the text with me.

This book is a great follow up to Brown Bear Brown Bear, as it is written by the same author and contains similar looking graphics.

IT’S A TIGER!

It’s a Tiger is a cute (and not too scary) story of a little kid who is running to and away from a tiger.

The book encourages your kiddo to act out the “escape”, which makes for a super fun bout of imaginative play.

When I looked at books like Brown Bear Brown Bear, I found that many parents really like how these books are interactive – and you’ll definitely get that with this tiger book too!

CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM

I think Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a book like Brown Bear Brown Bear because it encourages learning in a fun way for your child. 

This book tells a story where there is a tree that is trying to fit all of the letters on it. It is another good one that teaches rhyming and is a fun way to learn the alphabet.

The story line isn’t super exciting (sorry mama), but I have yet to meet a child who doesn’t love this book. It’s a must-have for your bookshelf.

FROM HEAD TO TOE

From Head to Toe is another from Eric Carle that instructs your child to clap, stomp, and wave their arms. It does this while helping solidify their knowledge of different body parts.

Every turn of the page is a new animal and a child who are making the same movement, and the reader is invited to make the same movement. 

The movements are ones that come naturally to the animals (a gorilla thumps its chest). We have a lot of fun with this one – but I would advise you NOT to make this a bedtime story if your intent is to calm your kiddo down.

YOU ARE NOT SMALL

You Are Not Small was published in 2015, so it’s one of the youngest books on our list. It won the 2015 Theodor Suess Geisel Award, so you KNOW that it’s good. 🙂

This book shows us that size (small and big) is very relative depending on who you are sitting next to in a charming and funny story.

Not only is this a good way for your child to begin to understand the basics of size, but it can also empower them to feel “bigger” than they are.

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR

The Very Hungry Caterpillar from Eric Carle is another classic that encourages learning paired with a good story.

This clever story is a simple rendition that goes over the life cycle of a butterfly. Throughout the book, the caterpillar eats a lot of food every day until he ends up making himself sick by eating too much.

For my younger toddler we work on counting and the names of the different food the caterpillar eats. My older toddler has had a short lesson on the butterfly life cycle, which fits in with this story perfectly.

MR. BROWN CAN MOO CAN YOU?

Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You is a classic from Dr. Suess, and it’s definitely worth adding to your bookshelf if you don’t have it yet.

Through this book your littles will hoot like an owl and buzz like a bee, as the book goes through different animals and the sounds they make.

This is another one of those that you can get as a board book, but you will be getting an abridged version if you do that.

PANDA BEAR PANDA BEAR WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Panda Bear Panda Bear is a book like Brown Bear Brown Bear because it is laid out basically the same and is from the same authors.

 This book came 30 years after the brown bear series and has more colorful pictures and different animals – other than that, it’s basically the same book.

There are some that feel that this version is a little more difficult to read, and that it does not flow off of the tongue as easy as the original brown bear series, but my toddler loved it just as much as the original!

HANDS HANDS FINGERS THUMB

Hands Hands Fingers Thumb was a fairly popular book I had never heard of until I had my own kids.

It’s a simple rhythmic story that will teach your child about hands, fingers, and thumbs while drumming and making other hand motions. 

The board book is an abridged version, so if you want the whole thing remember to grab the hardcover. 

Personally I feel like this book is the book most like Brown Bear Brown Bear that ISN’T written by Eric Carle. 

EATING THE ALPHABET

Eating the Alphabet is a story that has been around since 1989, and serves to help your child learn the alphabet by comparing letters to different fruits and veggies.

If you are able, it’s recommended to grab the hardcover version of this book. Apparently it has more pages and parents seem to prefer it over the paperback.

Although the story line of this book is certainly lacking, you will probably find it unbearable adorable to hear your child try to pronounce words like “rhubarb”. 

The fun colors and pictures are not a perfect rendition of what the fruits and veggies actually look like, but my toddler still seems to understand what they are when she DOES see them in real life.

BABY BEAR BABY BEAR WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Baby Bear is an additional book in the brown bear series that we got from Eric Carle.

If you have the other books in the series (brown bear, polar bear, and panda bear) you may as well add this final one to your personal library.

There isn’t a lot to say about it, except that it is a book like brown bear brown bear where the animals are switched out. Some people felt that the animals included were a tad too complicated, but we had no problems with it.

LITTLE YOGA

Little Yoga is a super cute introductory yoga book for your toddler.

This book shows your child nine different beginner yoga exercises, and your child will love moving along with “yoga baby”, who is the character in the book.

It’s fun, accessible, and colorful. I love when my little one grabs the book off of the shelf and starts trying to go through the motions by herself.

I SPY LITTLE LETTERS

Honestly, I have always hated the “I Spy” books, and this I Spy Little Letters is no different.

My grandmother purchased this book for our oldest toddler because she’s learning her letters right now. Honestly, it helps. 

Because of this, I think it’s worth picking a copy up – especially if your child is in the process of learning their ABC’s. This is definitely a fun way to do it.

CLAP YOUR HANDS

If you are looking for a book to get your kiddo moving, Clap Your Hands may be the perfect fit.

This book does NOT have much of a story line, but it can help your child learn and play out different things like “stomp your feet, clap your hands!”

While your toddler is probably going to LOVE this book – it’s certainly not one we choose for bedtime stories.

YOU ARE A LION (AND OTHER YOGA POSES)

You Are a Lion is another beginner yoga book. 

In this book, your little one learns simple yoga poses while pretending to be an animal at the same time – so hissing, growling, and acting like an animal is part of the story!

We liked this one because it goes a little further than the other yoga book we have on this list of books like brown bear brown bear.

DEAR ZOO

Dear Zoo is an interactive lift-the-flap book. I have found these books to be my toddler’s favorite kind, and I think that’s true of many kids.

The story itself is adorable and hilarious which makes it a lot of fun for parents to read. That and the flaps make this book different from other lift-the-flap books.

Most lift-the-flap have flaps that all lay the same direction, but the ones in this group are in different directions (and they are super sturdy which is nice!)

This book may not be exactly what you would expect on a list for books like brown bear brown bear, but this is a gem that is great for younger toddlers and babies working on dexterity.