We Share Everything! by Robert Munsch

We Share Everything! by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko

Rating: 4.5 stars

I want to start a trend: books for birthdays. Nothing else, and only one. That's it. Think of all the crap--plastic, mostly--that wouldn't need to be put away, thrown away, or given away. I am a firm believer in gift receipts, so if the little birthday girl or boy already has the book, then they can return it. But my latest "thing" is to include a picture of Lorelei and Ben on the first page, with a hand-written note from me (until Lorelei's handwriting becomes legible--right now she just "writes" her name and Ben's name). This way, the recipient knows who it is from even before she or he can read, and in a few years they can smile at how little their friends are. Of course, if I have a picture of Lorelei and/or Ben with the recipient, all the better! ANYWAY, think about it. BOOKS FOR BIRTHDAYS. Maybe I'll get a bumper sticker.

So we've ordered this book for our wonderful little neighbor-friend's third birthday. We love C, and I love her mother even more (we live in the ex-burbs, with just a few houses on a dirt road). But...um, well, she's got some room to grow in the sharing department. Of course, we love her anyway. I'm still working on my sharing skills, after all! So when Lorelei and I were chatting about what book we should get C for her birthday, I asked Lorelei if there were any sharing books. She thought of this one, which we found by luck at the library. (That's another bumper sticker I'd have if I put them on my car: I LOVE LIBRARIES. My husband would be so embarrassed!) This book showcases a boy and a girl who don't share, don't share, and don't share until finally they say: Ok, fine. We have to share. What should we share? They share their clothes, and the little boy ends up in an all-pink ensemble. It's really funny, with great illustrations from Martchenko and a good little message about sharing. Very fun to read aloud, too.

One more thing--the funny picture of the author on the back (which Ben and Lorelei study every time we check this book out) made me check out Munsch's website. I'm so glad I did! I am going to read all of his books now (just 42; I should be able to do this by summer time). A few things that I like about him: he puts REAL kids in his stories, he made up his most famous book Love You Forever as a song to his two still born children (my heart breaks for him), and he returns all his fan mail from classes. Gotta love that!

All right...I'm going to stop blogging so I can log onto the library and order up some of his books...

P.S. If anyone ever reads this blog, reads this post, and reads this book, and watches Survivor, doesn't Amanda look like Shambo on page 29?!??!