The little mouse, The red ripe strawberry, and the big hungry bear.

Wood, D., & Wood, A. (1984). The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear. Child's Play (International) Ltd.

ISBN: 0-85953-012-4

This beautiful book by Don and Audrey Wood is an intriguing conversation between the narrator and a small mouse. The mouse is intent on picking a delicious red ripe strawberry, but is alarmed by the narrator’s warning about the big hungry bear, who “loves red ripe strawberries”. The mouse attempts to hide, guard and disguise the strawberry in attempt to protect it from the absent bear. This book is wonderful for children 3-5 because of the beautifully detailed illustrations, simple text and humour as the mouse tries various ways to save his strawberry.

Children are drawn to the cute little mouse and how his animated expressions change throughout the story. The storyline is simple and easy to follow, . with enough repetition so that the children will soon be able to anticipate what is coming and chime in along with the reader. In the end, the mouse shares his strawberry with the narrator, making it impossible for the big hungry bear to find it. The mouse and narrator’s “win win” solution is a great ending to a captivating picture book. This simple story is also humorous and interesting to adults. The identity of the narrator is unknown, but has the reader wondering if a very clever bear might have “out-foxed” a little mouse.  Originally released in 1984, this book is timeless and the subtle reminder about the benefits of sharing resonates with both children and adults.

The illustrations are beautifully rendered in soft pastels and fine detail, bringing the story to life.  The fuzzy texture of the little mouse tempts us to stroke his soft looking fur, and the ripeness of the red strawberry makes our mouth water.  The mouse’s animated expressions change from pleasure, alarm, fear, panic, and back to pleasure as the story progresses.    

This book is quite simple and short so I would not chunk it, however there are many good places to stop and wonder, or ask the children to predict what will happen next. Even before opening the book I could read the title “The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and The Big Hungry Bear” and then ask the children to predict what the story is about, and what will happen. On the second page I would stop and wonder why does the mouse want to pick the strawberry? What will he do with it? There is also room to discuss how we know when strawberries are ripe, and not ripe. At the very end of the book you can wonder where the big hungry bear is, and get the children to provide their guesses.

One great way to generate children’s interest in this story is to explore the look, feel, smell and taste of real strawberries. Providing a base of appreciation and familiarity for the fruit will give a deeper connection to the mouse's desire to save the strawberry, and perhaps the bear’s desire for it. It would be best to do this in strawberry season when the fruit is relatively inexpensive and readily available. I would begin with an exploration of how a strawberry looks, by having children use magnifying glasses to look closely at the parts of a strawberry, anddraw or paint what they see.  The children can, share their drawings with the other children, commenting on what aspects of the strawberry they accentuated (shape, seeds, colour, etc.). I would then cut the strawberries in half and invite the children to explore the inside, using the magnifying glass and painting or drawing how it looks to them. Finally, time to taste the strawberries! I would tell the children to pick up the strawberries, describe how they feel and smell, then ask them to taste them and describe the taste.  Planting/ tending to strawberry plants would give children an even deeper appreciation for the process and time it takes to grow a perfectly red ripe strawberry. If you don't have garden space you can easily grow plants in small pots.

This story could easily be presented on a magnetic board,, by attaching magnets to the back of sturdy pictures of the mouse, ladder, strawberry, chains, knife, etc.  It would be also be fun to display different scenes on the four sides of a cookie tin. I think that turning the cookie tin to reveal the next scene would build anticipation and excitement for the children. I would need an alarmed version of the mouse as well as the happy version, and a whole and half strawberry. 

I can find the pictures online or use a colour photocopier to copy the illustrations out of the book, and have them laminated before attaching magnets. I would like to find a background that resembles the drawings in the story, similar to the pastel style illustrations. The laminated pieces would be strong enough to be used on a story clothes line as well! 

I would like to make a mini stage with 3 dimensional figures that have magnets attached, which can be controlled from below the stage with a magnet wand. I would need all the same pieces as the story using the magnet board, but I will make the pieces from model magic and glue magnets on the bottom. I believe the children would really enjoy performing the story themselves, leaving room for their creativity to reinvent/change the story.  This would also help them realize that when they are playing with their other toys, they are also creating stories that others might also enjoy.

I would like to present this book as a felt story. I would need a little mouse, a ladder, a strawberry, a strawberry plant, a pile of dirt to put over the strawberry, a key, chains or chained strawberry, 1 pair of large funny glasses to disguise the strawberry, 1 pair of small funny glasses to disguise the mouse, a knife, and a strawberry cut in two. I can make the pieces by finding pictures online and printing them onto transfers. They can then be ironed onto white felt pieces.

Another way I can present this tale is by using story blocks. I will use square wooden blocks with pictures from each scene glued on different faces of the blocks.  The story can be told stacking the blocks, lining them up or a combination of the two. I will sand the blocks to ensure they are safe to be handled by children, scan and print pictures from the story and glue them on the blocks, and cover them with modge podge or a clear lacquer. I would like to have one block with different mouse expressions on different sides, and another with different strawberries on all sides. I want the story to flow when told so I will have to coordinate the placement of each picture for ease of presentation. Perhaps I will write a script for the words in conjunction with how the blocks must be placed.  I like the idea of creating something durable that the children can manipulate to tell the story themselves. They will have to use their thinking caps to turn the blocks to the right scene.

The activities that I suggested as provocations could also be a good extension activities. Growing or taking care of strawberry plants, exploring the sensory aspects of the fruit in addition to sight and taste. Perhaps a good activity would be cutting strawberries in half, working on the children's fine motor skills. Strawberries are quite soft so it would be appropriate to provide the children with plastic knives. This is a nice way to promote sharing, working with a partner.

Something many children wonder about towards the end of the story, is what the big hungry bear looks like. A good extension piece would be to have the children draw what they think the big hungry bear looks like. I like encouraging artistic expression without an example to copy, which encourages the children's creative and individual thinking. When there is nothing to copy or compare to, the opportunity for free expression is wide open.

Another extension that I would like to make is a discovery bottle. I will fill a small plastic bottle with rice or another small material, and put in small characters from the story. The children shake the bottle and find the characters from the story. I will include a mouse, a strawberry, a ladder, a chain and a lock. It is an activity that promotes attention and includes the excitement of discovery. It would be a good activity for a child playing on their own, and they can spend time discovering pieces of the story.

A song that would pair well with this story is:

Under a tree (clap clap)

behind a house (clap clap)

there lived a teeny (clap clap)

tiny mouse (clap clap) 

she loved to dance (clap clap)

she loved to tap (clap clap)

but most of all (clap clap)

she loved to clap (clap clap)

she clapped all night (clap clap)

she clapped all day (clap clap)

she clapped to frighten (clap clap)

the BEAR away (clap clap)

(I exchanged the word bear with the original "Cat". If the children are familiar with the song they will find this funny and connect it with the story)

Another felt board "search" game that I could make with felt pieces is looking for a mouse behind different coloured houses. I can make many coloured house shapes from felt and hide a little felt mouse behind one. Have the children chant "little mouse, little mouse, are you behind the (name a colour) house?" Children love guessing games and this is easy to repeat with the rhyme.

Little mouse, the red ripe strawberry and the big hungry bear on PhotoPeach