Illustration from 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?' book by Eric Carle, depicting a brown bear in natural setting.
“Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle is a beloved children’s book, known for its rhythmic text and vibrant illustrations of animals. For many educators and parents, it’s a go-to for teaching colors and animal recognition. However, beneath the surface of this seemingly simple book lies a powerful opportunity to initiate crucial conversations about race and diversity, particularly in early childhood education. While the book itself focuses on colors in nature, its structure and engaging format can be leveraged to move beyond a color-blind approach and embrace race-conscious dialogues with young learners.
The original article, penned by Sachi Feris, a blogger at Raising Race Conscious Children, reflects on this very missed opportunity. Feris, who has used “Brown Bear” in her kindergarten Spanish classes for over a decade, initially overlooked the potential to explicitly address race when using this book. Her experience highlights a common tendency to default to color-blind frameworks, even when engaging with materials that celebrate visual diversity, albeit in the animal kingdom.
Feris recounts her realization: despite creating a thematic curriculum around “Brown Bear,” inspired by her mentor’s philosophy of cultural connection, she hadn’t explicitly named race within this context. The book’s ending, which transitions from brightly colored animals to a “White teacher” and then simply “children,” becomes a focal point of her reflection. This shift, she argues, subtly reinforces a color-blind perspective – teaching children to see colors in animals but not explicitly acknowledging the diverse shades of human skin.
This observation is particularly poignant in the United States, a nation grappling with a history deeply rooted in racial disparities. The color-blind approach, while often intended to promote equality, can inadvertently mask the realities of systemic racism and hinder meaningful discussions about identity and difference.
Feris’s personal experience as a parent further solidified her understanding. Reading “Brown Bear” to her own children, she naturally gravitated towards “naming race explicitly,” pointing out the different skin tones of the children depicted and using terms like “White,” “Black,” and “Indian.” This contrasted with her professional experience as an educator, where explicit race talk felt less common and sometimes even discouraged.
This hesitancy, Feris suggests, might stem from a lack of institutional support or a feeling of discomfort in initiating these conversations. She recalls an instance where a school administration did not support using a book about same-sex penguin parents to address gender identity, highlighting the potential challenges educators face when venturing into topics of diversity and identity.
However, Feris also notes a shift in her current teaching environment, where she feels more empowered to address racism and heterosexism. This supportive context has been crucial in allowing her to bring her race-conscious parenting approach into her classroom. She emphasizes the “liberating” feeling of openly discussing race with her child, grounded in research and her own beliefs about racial justice.
Drawing on workshops conducted by Raising Race Conscious Children, Feris points out that many adults initially feel “strange” or “awkward” when explicitly naming race. Yet, with practice, they realize the importance and feasibility of incorporating race-conscious language into their interactions with children.
The core message is clear: moving towards race consciousness is not a complex or daunting task. It’s about a simple shift in perspective and language. As Feris’s mother wisely states, “it’s not brain surgery.” It involves consciously choosing words that acknowledge and address race, transforming them into tools to challenge racism. For White individuals, race consciousness becomes a pathway to recognizing White privilege and actively participating in dismantling racist systems.
“Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” can therefore be more than just a book about colors and animals. It can be a springboard for initiating age-appropriate conversations about diversity, identity, and race. Educators and parents can adapt the book’s familiar question-and-answer format to include discussions about skin tones, cultural backgrounds, and the beauty of human diversity. By intentionally incorporating race-conscious language when reading “Brown Bear,” adults can begin to cultivate a generation that is not color-blind, but rather, color-aware and committed to equity and justice.
