Little Panda startles Big Panda awake inside his den. So Big Panda
(who's a little cranky) sets him straight by declaring, "Mine." Then he
puts Little Panda outside on a rock and tells him, "Yours."
When Little Panda appears at breakfast wanting Big Panda's food, he
tells him again, "Mine." Though, to encourage Little Panda to leave, he
hands him a kite and says, "Yours." At first, Little Panda has fun
flying the kite. But soon he begins disrupting the other animals in the
forest. They all give him the same message: their things, "Mine;" the
kite, "Yours." However, Little Panda is unable to stop the wind-blown
kite's tail from sweeping up the animals' things. And soon the animals
themselves are precariously swinging from it, too, as they try to
reclaim their stuff. Can they all learn a new word --- "Ours"? This is a
nearly wordless picture book, but what powerful words they are!
Award-winning author Marsha Diane Arnold has crafted a simple but richly
layered story about sharing, friendship and belonging. Together with Qin
Leng's detailed and sweetly expressive illustrations, it makes a great
read-aloud, full of drama, suspense, and surprises. Encouraging a growth
mindset in young children, this book is perfect for character education
lessons on kindness, inclusiveness, and compassion. It also works for
social studies explorations of community. Set in Asia, the names of all
the native animals included in the story are listed at the beginning of
the book.
