The Squirrels Who Squabbled

Author: Rachel Bright

Illustrator: Jim Field

Publisher: Orchard Books, 7th September 2017.

On this hilarious adventure two squirrels are on a race to get the last nut of the season. Bruce who has stored up a mountain of food but wants more and Cyril who has partied all year and has nothing to store for winter, both want the nut and go on a journey squabbling over the nut. An unfortunate twist of events and the nut is gone and both squirrels manage to become friends in this tale of laughter and friendship.

The tone of this picture book is fast past with descriptive and comedic elements. The illustrations are very detailed and really contribute to the story line.

Goodreads

Authors website

Illustrator's website

Harold Loves His Woolly Hat

Author/Illustrator: Vern Kousky

Publisher: New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2018.

Harold loves his stripey woolly hat and wears it everywhere, even when he sleeps. One day a crow swoops down and snatches his hat off his head and flys to the very top of the nearest tree top. Furious and desperate to get it back he tries to bargain for it, food, shiny things you name it. As time progresses Harold becomes more furious with only getting "Cacaws" from the bird. Harold gets a break when the crow flys away for food and he begins the climb to get his hat back, only he discovers the birds intentions werent nefarious and were completely selfless. Does he really need the hat? What has changed his mind?

This sweet story is fast paced and shows the reader that maybe its best to share as the other person may need it more than you. The illustrations are simple and the use of white shows the snowy atmosphere, its colourful where needed and directs the eyes to the main focus points. The tone is light and the uses of descriptive words to help make the story have more depth.

Goodreads

Authors website

Its Mine!

Author/Illustrator: Leo Lionni

Publisher: New York: Knopf, 1986.

Its mine follows three frogs Milton, Rupert and lydia, they live on a small island in the middle of Rainbow Pond. The frogs argued over everything, they argued over who owned the pond water, the earth and the air. Day and night, they squabbled when one day a toad appeared and said they needed to stop. The frogs didn't listen and that day a large storm appeared and swallowed up their tiny island. They found a rock to share and felt collectively sad and scared. The storm went away and they realised it good to share because it ment that they were together.The three frogs got a surprise as the rock they were sitting on wasn't a rock at all. What could it be?

The book has colourful texture like cut outs that are put together to create the illustrations, they are simple but beautiful in colouring. The book goes at a steady pace with easy to read content.

Goodreads

Authors Bio

The Bear Who Shared

Author/Illustrator: Catherine Rayner

Publisher: New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2011.

Norris is a wise bear who loves plorringes, He knew that the best place to be was under the plorringe tree. He waits for the plorringe to fall but meanwhile Violet the mouse and Tulip the raccoon are also waiting for the fruit to fall. They smell the fruit and listen to it while Norris waits patiently under the tree. The fruit falls on Norris' head and he finally has it but being wise he shares it with his new friends.

This messy arty illustration is a beautiful story of sharing and making new friends. The tone is light and calming and would be a great bedtime story.

Goodreads

Authors website

Should I Share My Ice-cream

Author/ Illustrator: Mo Willems

Publisher: New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2011.

Elephant buys a yummy ice-cream and is so excited to eat it, but he thinks of his best friend Miss Piggy. Will she want some? He debates backwards and forwards about if he should or shouldn't share with her, meanwhile the ice-cream begins to melt. When he finally comes to a decision to share his yummy ice-cream, he finds it has all melted. Elephant becomes sad but sees that Miss Piggy has come along with her own ice-cream, will she share it with him?

This fast paced book shows how sometimes its hard to share and really its something that we all struggle to do. The colourful illustrations show the attention grabbing emotions of the charactor whilst being simply drawn and cartoony. This book is also part of the "Elephant and Piggie" series.

Goodreads

Authors website

One Big Pair of Underwear

Author: Laura Gehl

Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld

Publisher: New York: Beach Lane Books, 2014.

This story begins with one big pair of underwear and two bears who don't want to share. As the story goes along more and more animals don't want to share, whether its the three young yaks that don't want to share the salty snacks and one misses out or the four ball bouncing silver seals who don't want to share the three fast scooters so another one misses out. Everthing changes when the pigs decide to share and piggyback down the twisty playground slides. The two bears see them sharing and decide to share the underwear and bit by bit the animals decide its not all bad when it comes to sharing.

This book uses tongue twister rhyming that is fun on the tongue. The book also gives children a way of using numbers, the number of animals go up on every page and soon the reader is counting to ten. Most importantly the book is about sharing with friends. The book is beautifully illustrated and the way the animals are drawn in pencil and digital media give them a silly and playful vibe.

Goodread

Authors website

Illustrators website

Llama Llama Time To Share

Author/Illustrator: Anna Dewdney

Publisher: New York: Viking Juvenile, 2012.

Llama Llama Time to share is a real representation of what its like meeting a new friend and sharing with them for the first time. Llama Llama loves his toys and is visited by his new neighbours Nelly Gnu, her sibling and mother. At first Llama Llama doesn't want Nelly to touch anything but decides blocks will be okay. Llama takes a while to warm up to playing and soon starts to enjoy it but Nelly disapears! She has found his favourite toy little fuzzy Llama and a tug of war ensures. Fuzzy Llamas arm gets pulled off and Llama Llama's mother stitches the toy back up and props him on the stairs declaring that no one can play with the toy until tey can share. Will they share?

This picture book is part of Annna Dewdney's Llama Llama series, with every book colourfully and artistically illustrated in a cartoon style. This book helps to encourage children to make new friendships and learn how to share. The books use of rhyming makes for a fun fast past story.

Goodreads

Author's Twitter

You Are Not My Friend But I Miss You

Author/Illustrator: Daniel Kirk

Publisher: New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers 2014.

You are not my friend, but i miss you follows the story of a sock monkey and his friend a toy dog. Sock monkey is upset that dog took his ball and soon steals it back from him and no longer wants to be his friend. Sock monkey searches for a new friend but soon becomes lonely and tries to play ball by himself, he misses dog but what will he do? Was he not so nice to dog as well?

This family friendly book is useful to children in that its relatable, the use of stuffed toys as the charactors is easier for them to understand. The overall tone is sad but sends a clear message of what can happen in a friendship but ultimately how to overcome negative feelings and learn how to be ice and share. The illustrations are colourful and detailed so you can see the charactors "stitching" and know they are stuffed toys.

Goodreads

Authors website

The Rainbow Fish

Author/Illustrator: Marcus Pfister

Publisher: North-South Books, 1992


This story of friendship and sharing is about a beautiful rainbow fish. He was admired by everyone for his beauty but when approached by a small fish and asked if he would share one scale, he immediately got angry and said no! How could he share his beauty? The rest of the fish stopped being his friend and the rainbow fish grew sad and lonely. A wise octopus heard of his story and asked him to give a scale to each fish. Will the rainbow fish give his scales away or is he to proud?

This book is an easy fast past read that would appeal to preschool aged children who love sea creatures. The tone is quite moody in the middle but picks up towards the end. The illustrations are in soft muted tones of mostly blues and purples but the main character the rainbow fish's scales are made of shiny foiled pieces that are eye catching.

Goodreads

Author's website

Trailer 1997

Show Episode 1

Sharing a Shell

Author: Julia Donaldson

Illustrator: Lydia Monks

Publisher: London, United Kingdom : Pan Macmillan, March 2018

Sharing a shell is a colourful and vibrant story of three different sea creatures living in a shell in a rock pool. The crap who found the shell meets a purple anemone that promises to protect him from scary fish and a yellow bristleworm who promises to keep the shell tidy and clean. These unlikely three friends go through hardship and find that friendship and sharing is the most important thing of all.
The bright and glitter filled illustrations by Lydia Monks captures the readers instantly along with the author Julia Donaldson's lyrical and rhyming tone for the story. This fast action filled childrens book is a wonderful lesson of sharing that children can relate to.

Goodreads

Author's website

Illustrator's website