Bears Always Share

Barbara Shook Hazen was a seasoned Golden Books editor who knew how to land a social lesson without a lecture, and that skill shows here. Bears model gracious sharing while other animals — including the memorably named Wanda the Warthog — demonstrate various grades of rudeness in a series of light vignettes. The rhyming verse keeps the pace lively for preschool read-alouds, and the lesson on sharing arrives naturally rather than being hammered home. Limited information survives about this 1987 title beyond its Golden Books imprint listing, and the episodic structure means there's no sustained story to follow. But for families looking for a gentle, humor-seasoned introduction to manners for three- to six-year-olds, this is exactly what Golden Books did well.