Num, Num, Num!: A Bea and HaHa Book

Bea and HaHa

by Emily Jenkins, Tomek Bogacki (Illustrator)

Bagels are good ? but they are best when split with a friend.


Bea and HaHa (an adorable hippo and a small ferret) are the
best of friends, but they don?t always get along. Perhaps it is
because they are so different from each excitable, verbal
HaHa is always trying to make sense of solid, confident Bea,
who says very little. These two charming stories, featuring
bright, graphic art, are centered on fundamental objects and
experiences of early cuddling a security blanket and
sharing a bagel.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

14 pages, Board Book

First published March 21, 2006

About the author

Emily Jenkins is the author of many books for children, including the recent picture books Tiger and Badger, illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay, and Princessland, illustrated by Yoko Tanaka. Her chapter books include the Toys series, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky; she is co-author of the Upside-down Magic series. Emily Jenkins lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Katherine Cowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book on rhetoric and persuasion that you should read your children. Rhetoric is all about having needs that you need the help of others to meet--in this case, Bea has a bagel, and Haha wants part of it. But rather than using force or physical aggression, Haha uses words (a great lesson for toddlers and adults alike). Haha goes down the list of rhetorical tactics, appealing to reason, emotion, and their relationship as friends. Ultimately, it's by making an argument that takes into account both of their needs that rhetoric wins the day.

The only problem with this book is that if I read it to my toddler when she is hungry, about halfway through she'll run to the kitchen screaming, "Bagel! Bagel! Bagel!" because the book obviously needs to be accompanied by a snack.