The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear (Child's Play Library)

The Story: A mouse is in the process of picking a red ripe strawberry when you, the reader, come upon him. You warn the mouse about "The Big Hungry Bear" who loves "Red Ripe Strawberries." Though the darling little mouse looks up at you with wide, worried eyes, he really wants that strawberry and continues to pick it and drag it back to his little home, where he tries hiding it, guarding it, disguising it, etc. Finally, the reader tells the little mouse the only way he can save his strawberry from the "Big Hungry Bear" is to "Cut it in two, share half with me, and we will eat it all up."

Your little mouse will love this book, and so will you. The illustrations are absolutely fantastic, and the mouse is one of the most expressively drawn characters in children's books. It's a quick read accompanied by bright, colorful, beautifully painted pages that will keep the attention of even the youngest child, and have your older child giggling and reading along with you.

My 3-year old daughter and I were in the local bookstore, and she came running over to me with this book in her hand. She had just been playing with a baby mouse at the petstore, and we had compromised by buying her a small stuffed mouse instead. When she found this, she was convinced this was the story of her mouse, who, like her, loves strawberries. I had to read it to her five times in a row before she'd even let me buy it; I can't even begin to count how many times I've read it to her in the week since. She just loves the mouse, the expressions on his face, and the joy of eating her favorite fruit right after! This is a great book that belongs in every child's library.

I taught a class of 1-2 year olds when I was in high school. We must have read this book a minimum of three times every day. There were plenty of other books, but the classroom full of toddlers sat with twinkling eyes everytime we read this wonderful story. After a couple of weeks I memorized it all, and the children did too! As we read through the book, a little chorus of voices would join in saying "BOOM BOOM BOOM!" right along with me. The illustrations are absolutely adorable, the style is wonderfully entertaining for children and adults. The one book you won't mind reading a hundered times over- and it's a good thing too!

What's a little, strawberry loving mouse going to do to keep a big, hungry, strawberry loving bear from eating his fruit? Especially when "the big, hungry Bear can smell a red, ripe strawberry a mile away..." Well, with a little clever help from the reader, this turns out to be an easy problem to solve..... Don and Audrey Wood have authored an entertaining, interactive treasure that's sure to charm and delight kids from 1 to 91. Their simple text is joyous and engaging, But this is really a story told through the marvelous illustrations. Mr Wood's bold, bright, and amusing artwork stars a most endearing little furry friend, and youngsters will love all the captivating facial expressions and wonderful, humorous detail in each two page spread. The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, And The Big Hungry Bear is a masterpiece little ones will beg to read again and again, and a timeless classic to share with friends, family, and future generations.

A wonderful book truly suitable for children from birth up (and for all of us big kids!). The sense of suspense created by the anticipation of the Big Hungry Bear's arrival is offset by the humorous facial expressions of this cute Little Mouse. A wonderful book which encourages a most important social value - sharing. It has large bright illustrations with minimal text on each page, so it is both highly attractive to babies and toddlers, and ideal as an early reader. Long words such as "disguised" are used to help expand vocab but are so cleverly illustrated that the meaning of the word is easily apparent even to toddlers (I won't spoil it by telling you how - but this is a MUST see!). The book also cleverly introduces basic math concepts such as one being cut in two, then sharing half. Again beautiful illustrations make this concept very clear. I have a three year old, and I also work with children from about 6 weeks old up to high school age. It is rare not to get a very positive response, even from those who are supposedly outside the book's age range. Seeing half a dozen tiny babies, or a group of busy toddlers, totally enthralled for a few minutes is wonderful. My son and I both love this book. If you like to dramatise (eg. different voices, noises, movements to the story) then this book will give you lots of scope. If you're a bit hesitant about trying dramtisation (or feel a little silly) go ahead and try it - you and your child(ren) will enjoy the book that much more. This wife and husband team are unbeatable, keep an eye out for other titles from them, especially Quick as a Cricket.