Children's Review: Will Sheila Share?



Books like this make a layperson believe that anyone can write a picture book. Savadier (Time to Get Dressed!) mindmelds with the toddler mentality so convincingly that she makes capturing the core experiences of early childhood look easy. The text itself would be more succinct than this review, but merely to recite it would be to disregard the punch that the illustrations deliver. The book opens with the image of a mild-mannered, curly-haired toddler happily intent on a full bag of multicolored marble-size candies. "Will Sheila share?" the text tantalizes. With the turn of a page, two older children stand back against the left margin of a completely white spread, as if withdrawn in fear; only the baby at their feet dares to reach out with a grabby hand. The heroine, on the far right of the spread (in a pose featured on the book's cover), clutches the candy in a posture of off-kilter rage and fear, like a middle-aged woman protecting the last bottle of water in a drought: "She will not share!" The pages that follow reinforce Sheila's resolve, with key words printed in bold to point out the proper stresses ("Not her bunny,/ or her ball"). She will share one "o" from a cereal box or green beans with her scruffy dog. But not until Nana models the true spirit of sharing does Sheila (looking very much the adorable toddler once again) give freely. The heroine's inner struggle is hard-won, which makes her victory all the more credible to the toddler in all of us.--Jennifer M. Brown

 

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