This selection is protected by copyright and is not available online. The Selection Snapshot has been provided in its place.
Go to page
Author's Purpose • Inferential
Author's Purpose
Predict • Inferential 
SKILLS 
STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT 
MODEL Before I started reading the story, I thought the author's purpose for writing was to entertain. The pictures are funny, and the characters are animals that talk and act like people do. Now I'm halfway through the story, though, and I think the author had another reason for writing. I think she wanted to teach a lesson too. I'm not sure yet what the lesson is, but I think it has something to do with Bear being lazy and always losing out.
Student Edition
Unit 2, pp. 228–245
An animal fantasy is a story with animal characters that behave like people. Look for ways that Bear and Hare act like people.
Bear and Hare were neighbors, but their lives were very different. Bear had great wealth and lots of land, but he was lazy and did not plant his fields. Hare was just the opposite. He had no land and was poor. The only things Hare had a lot of were family and energy.
One day Hare had a clever idea. He went to Bear and offered to be business partners. If Bear agreed, Hare would plant Bear's fields, do all the work, and give Bear half the crop. Bear could continue sleeping while Hare worked. This sounded like a truly great idea to Bear, so he agreed.
Hare asked Bear if he wanted the top or bottom of the crops. Bear asked for the tops. Then he went to sleep. Hare and his family got right to work. They planted seeds and made sure the growing plants had water.
When it was time for the harvest, they woke up Bear. "You get the tops and I get the bottoms," Hare said. So he and his family pulled up all the ripe carrots, beets, and radishes. They kept the vegetables and gave Bear the leaves that were on top.
Bear became angry. He said that Hare had cheated him. "Next time I will take the bottoms," he said.
Hare agreed, and he and his family got right to work. They planted seeds and made sure the growing plants had water. Again Bear slept while the crops grew. When it was time for the harvest, Hare went to Bear to wake him up. "You get the bottoms and I get the tops," Hare reminded him. So Hare and his family picked the ripe crops of broccoli, lettuce, and celery. They took the vegetables and gave Bear the roots on the bottom.
Again Bear became very angry and said that Hare had cheated him. "Next time I will take both the tops and the bottoms," he growled.
Hare agreed, and he and his family got right to work. They planted seeds and made sure the growing plants had water. This time Bear was half-awake when it was time for the harvest. Hare and his family were already busily picking the ripe crops of corn. "You get the tops and the bottoms of the cornstalks," Hare said. "We keep the ears of corn, because they are in the middle."
Now Bear was very, very angry. He said that Hare would never cheat him again. But Hare had another clever idea. The Hare family had earned money from the crops they had sold. They would be happy to buy some of Bear's fields.
Bear thought about their offer. He agreed to sell some of his fields.
Now Hare and his family grow crops on their own land, and Bear grows crops on his own land.
Bear learned not to sleep again through a season of planting and harvesting. And though they get along as neighbors, Bear learned another valuable lesson. He would never be partners with Hare again!
Text from Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens, copyright © 1995 by Janet Stevens, reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Inc.
Copyright © Pearson Education.
Tops and Bottoms.