Retell and Cut in Half Activity and Book Review

by Kathy Porter

“The Big Hungry Bear” by Don and Audrey Wood. This classic book tells the story of a mouse who becomes persuaded by an invisible narrator to pick a luscious ripe strawberry and find ways to hide it from the Big Hungry Bear, whom we never see. After a few hilarious attempts by the mouse to hide and protect the strawberry, the narrator convinces him to cut it in half and share it with the narrator. The mouse happily does so and is content with a belly full of strawberry and a sleepy smile on his face, knowing that he outwited the Big Hungry Bear…or did he? .

This story is easy to read and just as easy for a child to memorize and retell by looking at the colorful illustrations.

To buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Using the same story, retell it with different illustrations chosen by your child. Choose one animal picture, a fruit picture and a creature picture. Cut out the pictures and place them in a row. Coloring is optional, though I recommend coloring the fruit. The child can point to each picture as they retell the following story saying the names of the picture with description words. Story: One day, a small ladybug picked a ripe yellow pineapple to hide it from the big hungry space alien. He couldn’t find a good place to hide it so the small ladybug cut it in half and shared it with someone. Now that’s one ripe yellow pineapple that the big hungry space alien won’t get! .

Supplies:

Activity sheet, Scissors, Crayons or markers and pencils

Directions:

1. The child chooses one animal, one fruit, and one creature. Put them in a row. Examples: a small kitty, puppy or lady bug; ripe yellow pineapple, orange, or red apple; and a big hungry one-eyed monster, dinosaur or space alien.
2. Practice retelling the story with the child until they can do it by themselves. Remember to use the description words, small, ripe, big and hungry. They can pretend to cut the fruit in half with their fingers until they they can tell the story without help.
3. Story: One day, a small animal picked a ripe [name the color and fruit] to hide it from the big hungry [creature]. He couldn’t find a good place to hide it so the small [animal] cut it in half [the child cuts the fruit in half] and shared it with someone. [the child gives half to Mom or someone else]. Now that’s one ripe [color and fruit] that the big hungry [creature] won’t get!