Tops and Bottoms

Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens is a modern folktale, with a hilarious twist on the value of hard work, and a warning against laziness. This tale is about two very different characters: Bear, who is rich and owns a lot of land but is lazy, and Hare, who is clever but starving. Hare comes up with a plan to feed is hungry family–he hops down to Bear’s house and wakes him up. Hare tells Bear that they can be business partners. If Bear will let Hare use his land to plant and harvest crops, they can split the profit right down the middle. Hare lets Bear pick if he wants the top half of the profits, or the bottom half, and Bear picks the top half. So while Bear sleeps, Hare and his family plant, water, and weed until finally they harvest carrots and radishes. True to his word Hare gives Bear all the tops, and he takes all the bottoms. Bear is angry, and demands that the next season he gets the bottoms! So while Bear sleeps, Hare and his family plant, water, and weed until finally they harvest lettuce, broccoli, and celery. True to his word Hare gives Bear all the bottoms, and he takes all the tops. Bear is even angrier, and demands that next season he get both the tops and the bottoms! So while Bear sleeps, Hare and his family plant, water, and weed until finally they harvest corn. True to his word Hare gives Bear all the tops and the bottoms, and he takes the middle. Bear is so angry that he says that he will plant and harvest his own crops from now on, meanwhile Hare is able to buy some land, and become neighbors with Bear, although they never become business partners again! See this book listed in our catalog