Bear and Bird: The Secret and other stories by Jarvis

The List - Bear is upset that everyone else has a great nickname. In a moment of temper she writes a list of really awful names about her friend Bird. Rabbit arrives and offers to do the shopping and somehow the two lists are mixed up. How lucky because Bird gets the shopping list and wait till you see what happened to the nasty list.

The Lasagna - it is okay to like different things. Bird likes tambourines, a film about worms on holiday and the sounds of eating banana. The friends can't seem to agree so they decide to write their own lists of things they don't like. The contents of their lists are hilarious - slug slime shampoo; the word serious; that book about an alligator with false teeth and the word armadillo. Can the friends resolve their differences?

Secrets - this one ends with a Birthday Party! I reminded me of Pat Hutchins The Surprise Party; Max Velthuis Frog and the Surprise Party and Got to get to Bears. Take a look at this post.

The tree - this is a story about how (not) to play Hide and Seek. (Click that label attached to this post to find lots more hide and seek stories).

Publisher blurb: Best friends Bear and Bird may not always understand each other, but they always want the other to be happy. So when Bird feels left out because Bear has given a cute nickname to everyone but her, she’s relieved when her hasty list of names for Bear doesn’t reach him (Stinky Sock Muffin, anyone?). And when the two of them learn they have zero dislikes in common—from lasagna to chess to the word armadillo—and wonder if they can still be friends, they soon realize there’s one important dislike they can both agree on. Whether the challenge is being hopeless at keeping a secret (Bear), or getting befuddled about the rules for hide-and-seek (Bear again), this ever-endearing pair continue to charm in a sixth set of gentle stories.

Take a look at my previous post about the author illustrator Jarvis.

The world needs more books like this! The Bear and Bird series are written for newly independent readers who need to read real books not 'readers'. They contain short chapters which are self-contained stories and even better they have glorious colour illustrations. If you work in a Primary School library, please please pop this book series onto your shopping list. They only cost around AUS$16 each so for less then $100 you will have six splendid books to share with your young readers. 

Here are the titles in order: 

• Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories
• Bear and Bird: The Stars and Other Stories
• Bear and Bird: The Adventure and Other Stories
• Bear and Bird: The Stick and Other Stories
• Bear and Bird: The Cave and Other Stories
• Bear and Bird: The Secret and Other Stories

Plus a picture book - The Cloud: A Bear and Bird

Blurb: When Bear arrives at the Woody Woods for the first time, he is looking for a friend. But it seems like all the friends are already taken. Then he meets Bird, who is looking for something, too—the Puffy Fluffy Octopus Cloud! Bear decides to help her look for it, and so begins an unexpected adventure . . . Will they ever find that octopus-shaped cloud? 

Perhaps they might find something even better!

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson illustrated by EB Lewis

Why do we react badly to difference? Maya arrives in the classroom:

"We all stared at her.
Her coat was open and the clothes beneath it looked old and ragged.
Her shoes were spring shoes, not meant for the snow.
A strap on one of them had broken."

Our story narrator is the chosen desk mate but right from the first moment she is mean, horrid, cruel and worse to the new girl. She moves away, turns away and when Maya smiles, she does not smile back.  Why?

Maya tries to make friends. She shows the girls her birthday present of jacks and a tiny red ball but again she is rejected.  The weeks pass and things do not improve.

"Every day, we whispered about Maya, laughing at her clothes, her shoes, the strange food she bought for lunch."

Maya for her part keeps trying to be their friend. I marvel at her courage and perseverance.

One day in Spring Maya does not come to school.  It is on this day the teacher talks about kindness. She shows the children a bowl of water and they watch as she drops in a small stone. Kindness, she explains, is like the ripples. "Each little thing we do goes out, like a ripple into the world."

It is now too late for our narrator to show kindness to Maya.  I love the way the ending is left open. Jacqueline Woodson does not shy away from the deep sadness of the final scene. If you are familiar with the novel Wonder you will know about the movement to Choose Kind.

Here are some excellent teachers notes. Here is a video of the whole book and you can see some illustrations from this book on the illustrator web site. 

As I sat thinking about this book today I felt sad. Not because of the story line but because I would love to read this book to lots children. This is a important story told in a gentle way with fabulous illustrations. I worry that so many children will never see this book. In my view Each Kindness needs to be put into the hands of Teacher-Librarians and skilled teachers in all middle primary classes and shared widely. I am sure this is the case in US schools but I do hope it can reach classrooms here in Australia too. More and more in our world we need to treat each other with kindness.

• Kirkus review
• Horn book review
• Nerdy book club review

With a group of older students it would be good to compare Each Kindness with the classic book The Hundred Dresses.