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CM . . .
. Volume XXIV Number 36. . . .May 18, 2018
Excerpt:
Recommended. Dave Jenkinson, CM’s editor, lives in Winnipeg, MB. 
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
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Leung’s two board books follow a similar pattern with the opening spread establishing each animal character’s current situation. A happy Bear is shown against a background of her many possessions, including toys and things to eat, and readers are informed that “Bear has a lot to give...”. A sleepy-eyed Sheep is portrayed flopped on a bed, and readers are told, “Sheep has been playing all day, and now he is tired...”. In both books, the next spread asks the books’ title question: “...but will she share” and “...but will Sheep sleep?” 
As the excerpts above reveal, Leung then creates a number of scenarios with the question being asked on one spread and the answer then provided on the following one. And so, as Bear encounters one of her animal or insect friends, she is asked to share, in order, her berries, a book, her toothbrush, a favourite toy, an umbrella and an ice cream cone. In all but two cases, Bear responds in the affirmative, with one her negative responses being for an obvious health reason. As many children would, Bear is unwilling to share her ice cream, a decision that results in an accident. But all ends well as Ladybug arrives with a cake to share, one topped with the very berries that Bear had earlier shared with Ladybug.
Parents will recognize the various approaches being employed to try to get Sheep to go to sleep – the routines of teeth brushing, providing a drink of water, reading a book, providing a stuffy to cuddle, and turning on a night-light. None of these bedtime techniques work until Sheep responds to the suggestion to – what else – count sheep!
Design-wise, the brief text appears on one page with the illustration being found on the facing page. Given the books’ intended young audience, Leung has appropriately kept his illustrations of the characters quite simple and uncluttered, and he places them on coloured backgrounds. The secondary characters, a ladybug, a giraffe, an alligator and a frog, appear in both books.