Bear Learns to Share

MINE! is a word frequently heard when two or more children are playing with toys. Learning to share is not something that all children achieve easily. In Bear Learns to Share, Leung’s opening illustration reveals Bear standing in a room that is filled with her toys and books and other objects. Bear is then confronted with five situations in which the text asks if Bear will share something: her book with Giraffe (“Yes”); her toothbrush with Frog (“No! Toothbrushes are not for sharing.”); her favourite toy with Frog (“Yes”); her umbrella with Sheep (“Oh yes!); and her ice cream cone with Frog (“No.”) The story’s penultimate page sees Ladybug arriving on the scene while carrying a huge berry cake on her back. The accompanying text asks, “Will Ladybug share her berry cake?”The closing illustration confirms that she did as the four animal friends are shown digging into the cake. Readers are then left to answer Leung’s final question: “What do you share?”

Interestingly, the illustrations in Bear Learns to Share show that ‘sharing” does not mean giving up ownership of something. Bear and Giraffe read the book together; Frog and Bear use Bear’s favourite toy to retrieve Frog’s kite from a tree; and Bear and Sheep imaginatively transform Frog’s umbrella into a boat. The book’s only discordant note involves Bear’s not sharing his chocolate ice cream cone with Frog. When Bear refused to share her toothbrush with Frog, the text provided a reason for her saying “No”, but no explanation is offered for Bear’s refusal to share her ice cream. Instead, the illustration on the following page reveals that the scoop of ice cream has fallen off the cone and is on the ground. Divine retribution for Bear’s selfishness? Given that the sharing of food is a pretty common practice within families, this incident may leave youngsters confused, especially when the final incident has Ladybug sharing her berry cake.

Scholastic has identified this title as a “LEVEL 1 READER” characterized by “Sight words, words to sound out & simple sentences.” Leung’s animals are rendered in a cartoon-like style and are generally presented on a simple background.

Bear Learns to Share provides a good introduction to the concept of sharing, one that can be enhanced if the adults reading the book to children will follow up on the closing question, “What do you share?”