Pippa Goodhart, illus Anna Doherty
Tiny Owl
Age 3-7
The pear tree is full of fruit which both Hare and Bear are eager to eat. Unfortunately, neither of them can reach. Hare comes up with a plan and gets chairs to climb on, two for him and one for Bear. But Bear doesn’t think this is fair, Hare has more chairs than him! However, when Hare has only one chair, he can’t reach the pears. The two friends have a problem, maybe Beetle (who doesn’t like eating pears!) can help.
A lovely picturebook with a simple story which asks a big and sophisticated question- are you being fair if you treat everyone the same? A story which will prompt lots of conversations.
Read aloud
Read the story aloud pausing if children want to talk about what is happening in the story or pictures.
Join in
As children become familiar with the story encourage them to join in, for example with the exclamations such as ‘Bother’ and ‘It’s not fair’ or with the rhyming words.
Talk about the story
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Talk about what is happening in the illustrations, for example where Hare is trying to jump to reach the pears and what happens when Bear and Hare have one chair each
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There are lots of rhyming words in the story. How many can you remember eg hare, bear, share, pear, fair. Tr to think of more together. Perhaps you could make up silly sentences with lots of hare/bear rhyming words in.
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Talk about fairness – why might it be fair for Hare to have more chairs than Bear? How many chairs might a mouse need? Would a giraffe need any at all? Think about the differences between you and your child (eg in height and strength). When might it be fairer to treat each of you differently? For example, if you are reaching for something high or running a race? When might being smaller/lighter give you the advantage?
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Things to make and do
Taste a pear
You may be lucky enough to know someone with a pear tree. If not look out for pears you can buy at the supermarket, market or greengrocer. Chop up the pear and try tasting it. What does it taste like.
Play the story
Re-enact the story using soft toys and cardboard boxes for chairs, so that the boxes can come crashing down when the beetle eats them.
Make a picture
Make a large picture of a pear tree by printing with leaves and a pear cut in half. Look at the colours in the book and try mixing them with paint if you have some or crayons.
Cook with pears
If you manage to get hold of several pears you could try cooking together
Here are two recipes, one for pear muffins and the other for pear crumble
Can you taste the flavour of pears when they are cooked in a crumble or muffins?
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