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Little Panda startles Big Panda awake inside his den. So Big Panda (who's a little cranky) sets him straight by declaring, “Mine.” Then he puts Little Panda outside on a rock and tells him, “Yours.”
When Little Panda appears at breakfast wanting Big Panda's food, he tells him again, “Mine.” Though, to encourage Little Panda to leave, he hands him a kite and says, “Yours.” At first, Little Panda has fun flying the kite. But soon he begins disrupting the other animals in the forest. They all give him the same message: their things, “Mine;” the kite, “Yours.” However, Little Panda is unable to stop the wind-blown kite's tail from sweeping up the animals' things. And soon the animals themselves are precariously swinging from it, too, as they try to reclaim their stuff. Can they all learn a new word --- “Ours”? This is a nearly wordless picture book, but what powerful words they are!
Award-winning author Marsha Diane Arnold has crafted a simple but richly layered story about sharing, friendship and belonging. Together with Qin Leng's detailed and sweetly expressive illustrations, it makes a great read-aloud, full of drama, suspense, and surprises. Encouraging a growth mindset in young children, this book is perfect for character education lessons on kindness, inclusiveness, and compassion. It also works for social studies explorations of community. Set in Asia, the names of all the native animals included in the story are listed at the beginning of the book.
