Bears Don’t Share!
Lorna Scobie
Scholastic

With winter fast approaching Bear and Squirrel are having a discussion about the long sleep Bear is soon to have and Squirrel suggests his friend should go with him to find some food. Off they go and soon both animals have found berries. Guess who eats them all. “Save some for me please!” begs Squirrel, “Sharing is caring, you know!” to which Bear responds, “Bears Don’t share!”. The same thing happens when they find nuts – Squirrel’s favourite food. Bear scoffs the lot. He also consumes the carrot, apples, pizza and ice cream without sharing a single morsel.

Eventually the two come upon a picnic laid out on a cloth. This, Squirrel says, is ideal for sharing. Bear however proceeds to stuff sandwiches, smoothies, jelly, cookies and veggie sausage rolls before noticing an enormous cake.

Now Squirrel is at the begging stage and Bear is just about to swallow the entire thing when she notices Squirrel. A funny feeling comes upon the ursine character: what do you think she does next?
Come the spring what will Squirrel do with his stash of berries, seeds and cake?

With a fun final twist, this is a delicious story to share especially during autumn days: I love the expressions on the faces of the two main characters. I suspect some young children will be horrified at what they consider to be Bear’s greed, but in the final spread – Winter in the Wild – the author explains that Bear isn’t really being selfish, just consuming sufficient to get him through the period of hibernation.