Two for me, One for you by Jörg Mühle

On her way home, Bear found three mushrooms.
Weasel was very excited. He wiped the mushrooms, seared them, seasoned them with plenty of salt and pepper, and let them simmer in the frying pan with a little parsley.

It all sounds so perfect. Bear and Weasel can sit down for a delicious mushroom dinner. But wait have you spotted the mathematical dilemma.  There are three mushrooms but only two diners.

Let the arguments begin!

Bear - I'm big I need to eat a lot
Weasel - I'm small, and I still have to grow
Bear - I found the mushrooms
Weasel - I cooked them, I did all the work
Bear - It was my recipe
Weasel - I am so hungry you can hear my tummy grumbling

The pair are so engrossed with their argument, which turns quite nasty, that they fail to see the sneaky fox. He lunges forward and grabs one mushroom. Problem solved - bon appetit.

Now for dessert - wild strawberries. Oh no there are three on the plate!

Every young child, and perhaps every adult too, needs to read a story about sharing and this one is perfect.  This is also a book teachers could use when they explore the idea of persuasion.

This book was originally published in German.  Well done again to Gecko Press for bringing us another translated picture book to read and treasure.

Comic timing combined with droll mixed media scenes of the escalating situation (I love the forest setting with the kitchen set-up) make for a fun way to introduce youngsters to the notion of sharing: how might they solve the‘afters’ issue? Red Reading Hub

An insightful picture book that looks at friendship when the puzzle of 3 into two won’t go is posed, especially when food is involved. Bobs Books Blog

Another book with a similar theme is where friends need to work out differences is A letter for Tiger by Janosch. Take a look here for some other picture books about sharing.

Jörg Mühle is the illustrator of Meet me at the Ark at Eight - a book I really enjoyed.

Where's Julius by John Burningham

Tuesday Treasure

Don't read this book if you are hungry oh and grab an atlas so you can follow Julius around the world.

Mr and Mrs Troutbeck sit down for breakfast, lunch and supper. Mrs Troutbeck prepares a terrific variety of meals but Julius is absent. He is off on wild adventures.

Here are some of the meals - I often think about them when I am cooking.

For supper lamb casserole with potatoes in their jackets and broccoli with butter on top and for "afterwards there is roly-poly pudding."

For breakfast there is "sausage, bacon and egg, toast and marmalade and also a glass of Three Flavour Fruit Juice."

For lunch there is "cheese salad with celery and tomato an an orange for pudding if you want it."

Other desserts are plum duff, apple crumble and steamed pudding.  DELICIOUS!

Roly Poly pudding https://cumbriaguide.co.uk/jam-roly-poly-pudding/

But where is Julius?

• He is riding a camel up a pyramid
• He is cooing the hippos in the Lombo Bombo River
• He is throwing snowballs at wolves in Novosti Krosky
• He is climbing the Changa Benang Mountains

Where's Julius follows the format from two earlier Burningham books - Come away from the water, Shirley and Time to get out of the bath, Shirley.  Real life is pale in comparison with the wonderful flights of imagination by our young protagonist.


In his storytelling, he liked to start off quietly, then draw his young readers into the realm of imagination. There was, for instance, “Where’s Julius?” in 1986, in which Mr. and Mrs. Troutbeck wonder why their son hasn’t come down to lunch. The reason is that he has, as most every child has done, made a little fort in his room out of a curtain strung across a couple of chairs. New York Times


Where's Julius was first published in 1986 and so sadly it is out of print but I am certain most Primary school libraries will have a copy of this treasure. If you want a laugh Amazon have a new copy for sale at $1,645!  If you can find a copy this is a book to really enjoy on so many levels and it works well as a Kindergarten read aloud too.  You could follow this with another John Burningham book with a similar structure - Harvey Slumfenburger's Christmas Present.