THAT'S MINE!

A small child learns the joy of sharing.

“Pretend! Fun! Sit here. Take one.” These opening words come from the imperious brown-skinned toddler wearing a striped shirt on the book’s cover as she invites a darker-skinned female tot in a child care center to play. No sooner has the fun begun than the protagonist starts to feel dissatisfied with her farm animal toy. Displaying a toddler-realistic mood swing, she declares “This is mine!” and grabs the other girl’s toy dog. But her possessiveness doesn’t stop there, as she eventually hogs all the barnyard toys to herself (one amusing illustration shows the stripe-shirted youngster trying to stuff everything into a small dump truck) and commands the second girl to “Go away!” She is content playing alone until she notices the dark-skinned girl having fun with a light-skinned, bespectacled boy, feels envious, and must decide what really matters. Seeboruth’s sparse, rhyming text—consisting of punchy, two-word sentences—delivers its message with aplomb. With clearly delineated areas of strong color, Corrin’s expressive, textured digital artwork ably brings the humorous but believable characters to life. Altogether, the book creates a faithful snapshot of toddler interactions that will make caregivers smile knowingly and teaches an important lesson without being preachy.

An age-appropriate choice for modeling prosocial behavior.