The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don & Audrey Woods

This lovely book for toddlers and preschoolers is ultimately a great lesson about sharing with a friend. The story is basically about a little mouse who is trying to hide his beautiful, red, ripe strawberry from the big hungry bear, who he hears but never sees. The little mouse covers the strawberry with a blanket, wraps it in chains, puts a disguise on it, and ties all sorts of other things to keep his strawberry safe, but nothing he does seems like it will fool the bear. In the end, the mouse shares the strawberry with the reader, because that is the only way he can keep it from the bear. The illustrations in the book are beautiful and the face of the mouse is extremely expressive. The publisher recommends that this book would be appropriate for 4-8 year olds, but I have found it to be just as successful with the 30-36 month old crowd as well. Where to Buy: Although this book was originally published well over 15 years ago it's still available in children's book stores and online retailers.