Tops and Bottoms: A Picture Book Review
Tops and Bottoms is a witty trickster tale that rewards cleverness, hard work, and a tiny bit of mischief.
PICTURE BOOKS & READ-ALOUDSPICTURE BOOK REVIEWS
Tops and Bottoms is one of those rare picture books that teaches lessons about work, wisdom, and consequences while making children laugh out loud. Drawing on the rich tradition of African American trickster tales, Janet Stevens retells the familiar contest between clever Hare and lazy Bear with infectious humor and exuberant illustrations.
Bear owns plenty of fertile land but has little interest in working it. Hare has a growing family to feed but no land of his own. When Hare proposes that he will do all the planting and harvesting in exchange for splitting the crops, Bear eagerly agrees. The only catch is deciding who gets the “tops” and who gets the “bottoms.”
What follows is a delightful series of reversals. Each season Bear confidently chooses the wrong half of the harvest, while Hare’s careful planning and work leaves him with the vegetables worth eating. Children quickly catch on to the pattern and eagerly anticipate Bear’s next mistake, making this an especially satisfying read-aloud.
Like many classic trickster tales, the story celebrates intelligence and resourcefulness. Hare succeeds not because he cheats, but because he works hard, thinks ahead, and understands something Bear hasn’t bothered to learn. By the end, Bear discovers that there is no substitute for doing your own work, while Hare has earned enough from his labors to buy land of his own.
Janet Stevens
Janet Stevens was one of the great creators of humorous picture books. Her expressive animal characters, oversized gestures, and wonderfully exaggerated facial expressions make every page burst with personality. The illustrations are packed with visual jokes that reward repeated readings, and Bear’s mounting frustration is almost as entertaining as Hare’s clever schemes.
Stevens received numerous honors during her career, including a Caldecott Honor, New York Times Best Illustrated Book recognition, ALA Notable Book selections, and many state children’s choice awards. Her books remain favorites for classrooms, libraries, and family read-alouds because they combine genuine literary quality with irresistible fun.
A Caldecott Honor Book
Tops and Bottoms received a Caldecott Honor in recognition of Stevens’s outstanding illustrations. Awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, the Caldecott Medal recognizes the year’s most distinguished American picture book illustration, with a small number of Honor Books acknowledged alongside the medal winner.
Why We Keep Coming Back to This One
Some picture books are entertaining once. Tops and Bottoms becomes funnier every time it’s read.
Children delight in the repeated pattern of Hare’s clever solutions, while beginning to appreciate the story’s deeper themes of planning ahead, diligence, and the difference between being clever and simply taking advantage of someone. Told with Stevens’s energetic artwork and impeccable comic timing, it’s easy to see why this modern retelling has become a picture-book classic.
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