Review Detail

THAT'S MINE! is a board book about sharing. Told in simple terms, the book follows a young child who is playing with farm animals and unwilling to share. When she takes them all for herself, another child gets upset and goes to play elsewhere. When the young girl sees the other children playing together happily, she decides to share and goes over to share her animals with them. She realizes it is more fun to play together!

What I loved: This is a simple story with a lesson of sharing. The book is largely told through the illustrations, capturing emotions and the plot through those rather than with words. The text itself is very brief, with some pages being without any words, and this makes it one that children can really tell to themselves. The sketch-like illustrations manage to be expressive and focused.

What left me wanting more: It can be challenging for young readers to fill in the blanks themselves, and a lot of this story happens without words for it. Caregivers may need to help fill in the blanks and can help guide the discussion around what emotions each of the children may be feeling and allowing young readers to help consider interpreting faces and illustrations. On the flip side, it does require more to really help them digest and understand the story, so it's not such a simple read, which means it will not have the repetitive nature that little ones enjoy.

Final verdict: A story about sharing, THAT'S MINE! shows children that sharing is more fun with expressive emotions and simple text.