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The story of two friends who have different skills, but together they work together. One day they find something and because they don't see from the others perspective they become angry with one another. They spend time apart and decide they miss each other too much to stay apart. They say sorry and see things from each others perspective.

Excellent story of friendship and overcoming emotions.

Summary: This is a story about how a bear and mouse are best friends until one day they come across something special and shiny in to woods. When they each separately look into the shiny thing, they see their own reflection. Then they start to argue about who's reflection it is. They end up ripping the shiny thing in two pieces, and this causes a huge fight between the two friends and they storm off in separate directions. They stay mad all day, but when it becomes night time, they each get lonely for the other. Finally they apologize to each other and discover that when they each hold their piece together, it becomes a picture of them.

Personal Reaction: This book is good for explaining feelings, and how when we fight with our friends, it makes us feel bad. I like this book, but it isn't my favorite. It does express feelings of sadness, and anger well, it is just a fairly new book to my collection.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. Have your students practice writing apology letters to each other.
2. Spend some time exploring feelings and the appropriate ways to handle them.
3. have them draw pictures of their own best friends, and then do a show and tell so that the students could show each other.

Rabbit and Bear enjoy the wonderful feeling of being best friends, until they find a strange object in the woods and argue over whose picture appears within. ( )

This is a unique book with a sweet story. When Rabbit and Bear find something shiny in the woods, they both believe it to be a picture of themself (because they see their reflection). They end up fighting over it and it rips, leaving each of them angry and with only a small piece of it. After a while, they miss one another and make up. When they do, they realize that as they hold the two pieces together, it is a picture of both of them (because they are standing next to one another).

It turns out that what the animals found is a mylar balloon that has deflated and the way it is illustrated is very unique. I think this is a touching story about friendship that also makes a good read aloud book. ( )