Share by Anthea Simmons and Georgie Birkett

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Random House Australia, 2011.  ISBN 978 1742750996.
(Ages 3-5) A board book for the very young is aimed specifically at teaching younger children to share. The young girl and her baby sibling are separate entities at the start of this tale, as the girl tells us how she loves her fluffy teddy, and her books of animals and her puzzle, but so does the baby and so mum's voice off page calls out that she must share her things, despite what happens to them as a result. Many children will identify with the young girl dismayed at her younger sibling's messing her things, and identify the voice calling out for them to share. After a few pages, the girl asks her mother whether she should share, changing the premise for the story. So the two begin to share things, her drink and her paints and her bath, and the girl begins to lessen her resistance to her sibling's interference.
At the end, the two are in bed together, and the baby asks the girl to share his bed, with the pair sharing their mother's hugs at the end.
This is a wholly delightful little tale, teaching the idea of sharing, and making it easier for the adult reading the book to the children to introduce the idea of sharing and pointing out the ways of sharing that can happen in a family.
Fran Knight

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