Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Big Bear, after a few false starts, remembers to share the fare.Hillenbrand's Big Bear has a burly belly, which surely came from somewhere. As Big Bear is in the process of chowing down a galvanized trash can full of deep indigo berries, readers will quickly figure out that puzzle. It so happens that other creatures of the forest share Big Bear's interest in food, though he is too oblivious to share his stock, his eyes closed in berry joy. An old oakdrawn by Hillenbrand as an amiably imperial presence with a shock of limbs like Einstein's hairfeels that Big Bear needs to jump-start his social graces. "Branches shook on the old oak tree. / A deep, low voice said, Listen to me.... / Share, Big Bear, share!' " Maybe it is because Tree's voice is both deep and low, but Big Bear misunderstands repeatedly (as the refrain goes, "He didn't pay attention like a good bear should"). He thinks Tree said "hair." So he slicks his fur back and goes on munching. Tree repeats, Big Bear mishears. Lair, chair, scare ("Big Bear knew just what to do. / He jumped in the air and yelled out, BOO!' "). Finally, Tree breaks through the earwax. "How could I forget to share? / Come, everyone, / there are berries to spare!" It is refreshinglike those berries on a hot summer daythat Big Bear has just been in a swoon of delight and not a piggy-wiggy who needed a mindful slap on the wrist, though he does blush a little. "I like to share. / It makes me happy deep inside." To amuse and instruct, one could do a lot worse than Wright and Hillenbrand's bear and old oak. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Clueless Bear (from Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! and Sneeze, Big Bear, Sneeze!) returns for another rhyming story, this one about sharing. Big Bear misunderstands an old oak tree's admonitions to share and thus keeps his berries to himself until he (rather abruptly) gets the memo: "Well...you could have told me before!" Hillenbrand's expressive and appealing illustrations give the book its charm. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.