A welcome exception from the sheer awfulness of the books DS#1 (age 7) is given as first grade take-home reading.

A little mouse finds a red ripe strawberry, and is warned by the narrator that "The big, hungry bear can smell a red, ripe strawberry a mile away..." What can be done?

The illustrations are excellent -- really a joy -- and their humor is much appreciated by kids. The mouse trying to disguise the strawberry (with Groucho glasses) is a hoot.

I suspect, along with most adult readers, that the narrator is trying to frighten the mouse into sharing the strawberry with him but my 7, 5, and 2 year-olds are completely immune to subtext and take everything at face value. So there's that.

A sequel exists, Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear, for which I will be on the look-out.

A slight update, from a year later: this was good enough that I wound up buying a copy. DD#2 (age 1) loves it as well, and, when prompted, will say "stwaberry" at appropriate moments in the text. Be still, my heart.

Super cute book! It was recommended for my 4 year old by someone who loved it as a kid. Illustrations are great!

This is a fun, reader interaction sort of story. It's one that can be read with a lot of dramatic voice exaggeration. Trust me, this picture book will only get better the more you read it!

I personally really enjoyed reading this book because of the fun mysterious storyline. The narrator’s voice makes this book quite interesting and engaging. I really liked the illustrations in the book. I think that they would be really good to use with children in year one or reception where they would have to order the pictures. The pictures are really vivid and colourful. The only negative that I have about this book is the fact that there really isn’t a big hungry bear and I feel that children of this age bracket would find difficult to understand.

I have read this book to year one children, whereby I took on the role of the narrator. I also played the video clip of this story for the children just so that they could hear the narrators voice more clearly, I have to admit that a lot of the children were confused because they thought it was the bear who was talking to them. Having that said it is a book which does not have an ending a so maybe the children’s opinion may just be the right one. I just didn’t like how there was no definite answer for them. However, I really did feel that the children loved this book, especially the “SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF” AND “ BOOM BOOM BOOM”.

A fun story and beautiful illustrations.

I LOVE THIS BOOK! it's so sweet and cute and I think kids will love it, the illustrations are great and I love the plot of the book. i could read it a hundred times over again. 5/5 stars

I really love this one

n  4.5 starsn

Now, I have been reading Audrey and Don Wood’s works for many years, especially many of their earlier works including “The Napping House,” “Heckedy Peg” and “King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub.” So, imagine my delight when I finally got around to one of their most highly praised books that I never had the chance to read when I was little called “The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear” and I was pleasantly surprised by the results!

The story starts off with a little mouse going to get a big, ripe and juicy strawberry from the tree and the narrator starts having a conversation with the mouse and then suddenly the narrator states that a big hungry bear might be on the prowl and is looking to steal the mouse’s strawberry! So, the mouse tried to find ways to hide its strawberry away from the hungry bear, while the narrator continues to warn the mouse about the hungry bear being on its way to take the strawberry. Later on however, the narrator then makes a suggestion that might help the mouse save its strawberry from the bear…

n  What does the narrator suggest?

Read this book to find out!n

I must say that I was quite impressed with Don Wood and Audrey Wood’s collaboration on this book! I loved the fact that Don and Audrey Wood allows you (the narrator) to interact with the mouse character in this book and warn him about the hungry bear that might come and eat its strawberry. Don and Audrey Wood did a fantastic job at making the narrative creative and suspenseful at the same time as we also worry about how the mouse will save its strawberry from the big hungry bear while in a way encouraging the mouse to find clever ways to hide the strawberry. Don Wood’s artwork is simply amazing and beautiful to look at as the mouse looks incredibly cute with its black beady eyes and its extremely long tail and I loved seeing the images where the mouse tries to find different ways to protect its strawberry, such as digging it in the ground and putting a disguise on the strawberry. I also loved the way that Don Wood drew the lush environment that the mouse lives in and you can see various weeds surrounding the mouse which gives the environment an exotic flair.



The reason why I took off half a star from the rating was because I felt that the narrator purposely scaring the mouse in the story just to get half of the strawberry felt a bit too mean-spirited. This is really apparent when we see images of the mouse looking legitimately terrified about the prospect of meeting the hungry bear (which never made an appearance in the actual story). Parents should let their children know that tricking other people to get what they want from other people is not the way to go in this kind of situation.

Overall, “The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear” is a truly cute story about trickery and suspense that children who are fans of Don and Audrey Wood’s works will get a kick out of! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the narrator purposely scaring the mouse would send mixed messages to small children.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

I don't get it. So many love this book but I really wasn't crazy about it. Using fear like that seems terrible to me, especially to trick the poor mouse out of the food he rightfully harvested for himself. The illustrations are cute but the story just rubs me wrong.

Another book I love to read to my kids. I need a new copy because the one I have is falling apart.

Someone recently said that this was their favorite book in childhood, so of course I had to read it. It was so cute! This is the perfect kind of book for a parent to read to their kids, and I love that. Highly recommend!

The only down side is that the bear never actually showed up. I wanted to see the bear! :)

Upea jättikuvat ja hauska tarina. Hyvät riimittelyt portugaliksi.