Author: Mirra Ginsburg
Genre: Folktale / Manners / Hungary / Trickery / Animals
Year Published: 1976
Year Read: 2015
Source: Library
Content Rating: Ages 3+ (Some Fight Scenes)
Buy or Add on: Amazon // Goodreads
I have read many folktales from around the world, but I
rarely read folktales that came from Hungary! “Two Greedy Bears” by Mirra Ginsburg along with illustrations
by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey
seems like a familiar story that I had heard of many times before, but I have
never actually read the actual tale of this lesson. Well, now this is the first time I had read
the original tale and I loved it!
The book starts off with two young bear cubs running outside
to see the world until they stumbled upon a brook. Both of the bear cubs wanted to drink out of
the brook, but when one of them replies that he is thirsty, the other one
replied that he is thirstier and this leads to the two bear cubs trying to
outdo each other by seeing who could drink the most water from the brook. The bear cubs drank so much water from the
brook that they ended up having huge stomachaches and they had to sleep it off
until the next morning. When the bear
cubs felt better the next morning, they continued to explore the world until
they found a large round of cheese lying on the ground. The bear cubs wanted to divide the cheese
among themselves, they could not figure out a way to divide the cheese
equally. So, they started to fight each
other until a fox came by and wanted to help the bear cubs divide the cheese.
Will the fox help the bear cubs divide the cheese?
Read this book to find out!
I was seriously amazed at how Mirra Ginsburg made the story as simplistic as possible, while
still delivering the message about how becoming greedy can come with its own
consequences. Now even though I had read
many folktales that dealt with the consequences of greed, this book was quite
unique as it showed more about what happens if you let greed get to you, rather
than outright telling the reader that greed is never a good thing. I also thought that it was quite hilarious
and creative at what happens at the end of this book (I will not spoil it for
anyone who has not read this book yet) as I found myself laughing at how the
fox solved this dilemma between the bear cubs!
Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey’s
artwork were truly cute to look at as the two bear cubs had different shades of
color as one was brown and the other was yellow as it helps the reader tell them
apart. I also loved the fact that the
bear cubs were round and fluffy as it shows how innocent they are and yet, they
do not understand about greed and therefore they get themselves into trouble
whenever their greed gets the best of them.
Overall, “Two Greedy
Bears” is a truly fantastic book for children who wants to learn about the
consequences of greed and wants to read a folktale that comes from
Hungary! I would recommend this book to
children ages three and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.
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