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Tops & Bottoms
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
31 posts | 23 read | 2 to read
Hare solves his familys problems by tricking rich and lazy Bear in this funny, energetic version of an old slave story. With roots in American slave tales, Tops & Bottoms celebrates the trickster tradition of using ones wits to overcome hardship. As usual, Stevens animal characters, bold and colorful, are delightful. . . . Its all wonderful fun, and the book opens, fittingly, from top to bottom instead of from side to side, making it perfect for story-time sharing.--Booklist
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review
Soubhiville
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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Pickpick

Did I check this kids book out from the library because of possible innuendo? Yes I did. Did it have any? Nope. But this is a fun story of Hare using his smarts to feed his family. It‘s reminiscent of The Tortoise and the Hare or a Briar Rabbit story. And the drawings are exceptional.

MatchlessMarie lol that sounds like something I would do 😅😇 2y
Ruthiella 😂😂😂 2y
marleed Oh I have this one on my shelves - part of my 90s collection of picture books! 2y
Bookzombie 😂😂 2y
58 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
AndreaEfres
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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Pickpick

5/5 🐰

Definitely, a twist in reading since this book is displayed in a completely different way from the norm. Yet it describes a folktale that deals with a subject that is a trickster teaching his rivals a lesson in hard work. Follow these animals around an adventure.

Best for K3 students.

Follow up in the comments to read the rest...

AndreaEfres LAFS.2.RF.3.3 Phonics and Word Recognition. Students are able to build cognitive vocabulary through decoding words, with this book we present a different approach to catching students visually and having them distinguish different sounds.
UDL (1.3) Offer alternatives for visual information between content that can be gathered visually through a picture book. An activity would be a readers theater with the characters.

#UCFLAE3414SP21

3y
AndreaEfres Check out this resource for more information on this book:
https://janetstevens.com/ remember to scroll down to find the Silver Caldecott Honor Medal

Thank you for reading,
Ms. Efres 🍓
3y
DrSpalding You have selected a few high-quality award winners! The Caldecott award for images is clearly an award that you want to continue to seek out to add quality picture books that offer excellent visuals to enhance comprehension. 3y
7 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Allierd22
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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“And although Hare and Bear learned to live happily as neighbors, they never became business partners again!”

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Allierd22
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens

This book reminds me of when I was a child and I would try to trick my sister into doing things for me or giving me things just like the Hare did to the Bear!

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Allierd22
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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Pickpick

This Caldecott Honor book was so clever! Children would absolutely love the way the story flows in different directions and ends totally different than you would have expected!

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em_lemo
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
Pickpick

This book is a Caldecott Winner, for good reason too (pub. 1995). This book has great illustration along with such a good story line. It also made connection to another book within the first few pages.
Tops and Bottoms is a great read. It shows rustic but colorful illustration, and has a unique way of being held which makes the read even more fun.
“He had lost a risky bet with a tortoise and had sold all of his land to Bear to pay off the debt.“

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elijahsmith
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens

“Bear never again slept through a season of planing and harvesting”

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elijahsmith
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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The illustrations of this book are astounding!

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elijahsmith
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
Pickpick

This book was very good. I think it would be good to read in a classroom since it integrates farming into the story. Farmers are an undervalued part of society and exposing children to it at a young age is valuable. I enjoyed the back and forth of the book.

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Come-read-with-me
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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Pickpick

A story of a lazy bear, industrious bunny, and eventually a sly fox. These are great books to share with preschoolers because the stories are engaging and teach great lessons. My favourite is Tops & Bottoms because it really illustrates the importance of choosing your words carefully! The illustrations are lovely!

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LibrarianRyan
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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Pickpick

4 🌟
This is a continuation of the tortoise and the hare, but this time the Hare uses his brain to trick the bear. In harvest time, tops, bottoms, and middles do matter as this very sleepy bear will learn quickly. A fun book with great illustrations.

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Miadolce
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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“”See, Bear? You get the tops and the bottoms. I get the middles. Yes, sir, Bear. It‘s a done deal!””

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Miadolce
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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Miadolce
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
Pickpick

Wow what a fun book to read. The book is made so that we read it vertically, not horizontally. The illustrations are SO detailed and the story itself is super cute, especially with the animals.

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rachelshoemaker
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens

“And although Hare and Bear learned to live happily as neighbors, they never became business partners again!”

blurb
rachelshoemaker
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens

I really like how the author illustrated the bear

review
rachelshoemaker
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
Pickpick

Caldecott & Folktale
Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens
Harcourt Brace & Company 1995
Although the hare tricked the bear, this book sets early in the minds of kids how important hard work is

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anniebananie22
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens

“They planted, watered, and weeded, then watered and weeded some more.”

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anniebananie22
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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The illustrations in this story look so classic and remind me of illustrations I would see in books I read as a child. I love the use of colors and detailed sketches. Additionally I love the unique rotation of the pages.

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anniebananie22
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
Pickpick

This story's plot includes a rabbit and a lazy bear. The rabbit tricks the lazy bear uin order to help his family. This story is a cheerful tale that shows excitement and different types of relationships.

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Ariel8Smith
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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“Bear never again slept through a season of planting and harvesting”

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Ariel8Smith
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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Clever story showing how tricksters can overcome hardship by using their wits.

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Ariel8Smith
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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Pickpick

Caldecott honor book, 1995. Witty story about a lazy bear with a lot of land, and a smart hare who is clever. Hare makes a deal with the bear but tricks him into giving the better land. Shows how intelligence can overcome wealth.

review
AshleyAA
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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Pickpick

Top and Bottoms by Janet Stevens is a humorous Caldecott award winner TL book following a tricky hare, who loves getting into trouble, and a lazy bear, who loves to sleep. Hare and Bear become business partners and decide to split the crops evenly, it‘s up to bear to chose which half he wants, tops or bottoms? However, things don‘t seem to go as planned for bear. Students will learn that hard work pays off!

#UCFLAE3414F17

AshleyAA A great RA book to use with any of the lessons in the teaching guide provided: http://www.storyboardthat.com/teacher-guide/tips-and-bottoms-by-janet-stevens (edited) 7y
AshleyAA This book, alongside the provided teacher guide, can meet UDL principles 3.2 and 4.1 relating to highlighting big ideas/relationships and providing various methods for response along with EL 30, encouraging use of diagrams/drawings as aids to identify concepts, and EL 45, using Venn diagrams to compare and contrast. 7y
KarinaGuillen I love the underlying message of his book! Super cute. 7y
DrSpalding This book is one of the mentor text mentioned in your genre quick guide. Excellent choice! 7y
4 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Aimeejett
Tops & Bottoms | Janet Stevens
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Pickpick

Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens is a MF Caldecott award winner RA picture book that would be great for your students to read in your classroom library. Clever Hare solves his problems by tricking bear. Hare and Bear get involved in a gardening business where Hare‘s tricks and hard work allow him to reap all the vegetables profits, while lazy bear sleeps through every planting season and doesn‘t make a profit. Students will learn the value of hard

Aimeejett work and doing things for themselves. The UDL 7.2 optimize, relevance, value, and authenticity along with EL 6 continually monitoring students‘ comprehension. I think it‘s important for the students to know how to value what Hare is doing. By asking them questions while reading, you will be able to see if they are comprehending well. This website http://mrswillskindergarten.com/tops-bottoms-lesson-plans/ I really liked because it has many 7y
Aimeejett activities but my favorite one is how Bear starts to plant his own crops. #ucflae3414f17 7y
DrSpalding Another excellent post @Aimeejett. This book is often recognized as an excellent mentor text in teacher resources. I love the different format; flipping the pages up and down rather than side to side. Super resource and excellent alignment.❤️📚 7y
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Juliemorell @Aimeejett I've read this book before and I love it! The message is very important for children to be exposed as it teaches them the value of hard work and the importance of being self reliant. I'm glad you posted this, I completely forgot about this book! 7y
MeghanW I think this book is a great addition to any classroom! I watched the video on the link and the illustrations are so funny with the bear all over the place! It shows students how to work had and not to give up. 7y
Taylorhenderson3 I think your UDL aligns perfectly with value and authenticity because kids try to find the easy way out and don‘t realize that hard work pays off. I love the activities because it shows such a a cute way to engage the students 🍎 7y
DrSpalding This book is noted as a mentor text in the traditional literature section of your flip book. Excellent choice wonderful peer comments.📚 7y
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