Bear and Bunny Grow Tomatoes

by Bruce Koscielniak

A hard-working bear and a lazy bunny both plant tomatoes in their gardens, with quite different results.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction

25 pages, Hardcover

First published March 23, 1993

About the author

Bruce Koscielniak is the author and illustrator of several books for children; he is also a musician who has played the violin and jazz guitar for many years. He lives in the Berkshires region of Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Rachel Coyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty adorable book with gentle and somehow still sly humor. Love the whimsical illustrations

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

My sister was a big fan of this book when we were growing up; I only vaguely remember it, but now I've re-read it. The illustrations are terrible. But one thing my sister pointed out is that the moral is sort of awful. And it sort of is. But it reminds me of The Grasshopper & the Ants. The hard-working ants ultimately end up sharing with the lazy grasshopper, and that's one of my favorite parts of the book. It works way less well here, though. Neither the bear nor the bunny seem at all aware that their results are from the work they put into it. Bunny is so clueless that he still thinks he has tomatoes. Bear just never paid attention to bunny. So when Bunny gets tomatoes anyway, even though he played instead of work, there's no message of empathy, which is what the Pinkney book contains.

If the wording were tweaked even just a bit, it wouldn't so terrible.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bear is very meticulous about his tomato garden while Bunny is worse than lazy regarding his. Obviously, Bear's tomatoes grow well and Bunny ends up with no crop. Bear gives Bunny his tomatoes even though Bunny hasn't worked hard and they both smile.

Bear should have read When Helping Hurts. The moral of this story was... You don't have to work and you will still get what everyone else has, thus creating an unhealthy dependency. Bear thought he was being benevolent when he really did Bunny a disservice in the area of responsibility.

Who knew children's books could be so political? :)

[Belinda Grimbeek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story with a moral that keeps one guessing till the end.

As an illustrator I enjoyed the way that Koscielniak highlighted the differences between Bear and Rabbit on every page. That’s the best part, the differences creating the crescendo till the very end where Bear’s heart melts us with the unexpected conclusion.

My takeaway as author-illustrator: keep the action, dynamics, plot or character development growing till the end. And…don’t forget to include a lot of heart!

🐻🍅🐰❤️

#picturebooks #kindnesswins

[Maggie Gilmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Bear and Bunny both grow tomatoes in their yards but they both approach the task in different ways. Bear is perstein and Bunny is lazy. This book can teach children you aren't going to get anything out of laziness but you will get something out of something if you put effort in it. This book can be used when discussing about gardening, however, it doesn't discuss how to plant things.

[Renee MA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bear knows just the way to get tomatoes to grow, but Bunny, not so much. This book is good at showing that plants need specific things to grow.

[T · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful gardening book! The different ways Bear and Bunny garden are on grand display. And the ending had a surprise twist. Loved it!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2. Similar to the ant and the grasshopper fable. Bear works hard in his garden and gets a big harvest, while Bunny throws some seeds in his yard then ignores them and relaxes all summer. It ends with Bear sharing his over abundance with Bunny, which I liked, but I would have liked to see Bunny learn or come to a realization that there was a correlation between work and results, and sadly he didn’t.

[Lucy Takeda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ant and the grasshopper updated. I prefer the original.

[Chloe]

I cried in 4th grade when I found out the book had been shredded by the couch.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book didn't give my 8 year old any trouble.

[Bridget · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about a bear and bunny that each grow their own patch of tomatoes. Bear works hard and Bunny does not. Bear's tomatoes grow and Bunny's do not. Bear gives Bunny his tomatoes even though Bunny hasn't worked hard.

I guess the moral could go either way. In a postive direction it is good that Bear shared. But, I thought that it taught a more negative aspect; you don't have to work and you will still get what everyone else has.

Did Obama read this book to create his new stimulus package? ha ha

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A folk-tale like story very similar to the ant and the grasshopper of Aesop's Fables. Bear and Bunny both decide to plant tomato gardens. Bear is very methodical about his and Bunny is not. Bear pays attention to his garden, Bunny ignores his. At the end of the summer, Bear has a plethora of tomatoes to share with Bunny, who can't seem to find his tomato garden.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

A twist on the ants and the grasshopper. I'm not overly inthralled with the words chosen. It might be good for an earlier reader to read once or twice, and it has cute pictures, but other than that there's not much else I would use it for.

[Megan Ekins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really cute little book teaching about responsibility and sharing.