by Janet Stevens

read aloud kindergarten, readability grade 2

This is a story about a Bear, who has lots of money and is very lazy; and the Hare family, who are hard workers and very poor. Predicting even harder times, Mr. Hare asks Bear for half of his crops if him and his family handles the labour. Time and time again, the Hare family tricks Bear and come out winning in the end. Tops and Bottoms is beautiful and uniquely illustrated book that children will want to read over and over.

Make a tops and bottoms book.

This book is illustrated and written top to bottom of instead of side to side. If you are doing a vegetable and/or a seed unit, this would be a perfect book to use. Ask children to fold an 8-1/2 x 11 piece of paper in half. On the top draw how a vegetable looks above ground. On the bottom draw how the vegetable look underground. Repeat the process for four more vegetables. Cut each paper in half and bind together with staples so that when you open the book you can see how a different vegetable looks above and underground each time you turn a page.