Sharing is the theme here, and this highly enjoyable picture book should do the trick for a child reluctant to part with his special things. When Mouse comes dancing down the hill on his way to find apples, he doesn’t see (but we do) that there is a bear lurking in the trees. What happens then when he finds four juicy apples is only to be expected. Bear appears and claims them as his own. Oh dear. Mouse, though, being of a sharing disposition, offers to give one apple to Bear. No, says Bear. He’s going to take them all, and he becomes very threatening. When he puts the apples in his basket, canny Mouse rolls himself in a ball to look like an old, wizened apple, and he is loaded into the basket too. On the way home, Bear is singing happily to himself and doesn’t hear the crunching noises coming from the basket. So, guess what? He has eaten the lot, except for one of the big juicy apples, and this the cheeky Mouse offers to Bear. Seeing the error of his ways, Bear accepts the apple, and they toddle off the best of friends. Brilliant rhyming verse and lovely gentle pictures full of the beauty of nature make the point that sharing is best for everyone. Wonderful!