(Age 5-7) This award winning series of children’s picture books features an adorable paranoid squirrel. It receives high marks from me for humour and for tapping into one of life’s realities: fear. If books are handy tools for vicariously encountering all kinds of human experience and emotion, this series has good value indeed!
Scaredy Squirrel would rather stay in his safe and familiar tree and follow a carefully planned routine, than risk venturing out into the unknown. Until one day the unexpected happens…and of course, he learns a gentle lesson that life will sometimes thrust him out of his comfort zone. What I like is that while developing him slightly, the experience doesn’t change him completely which is realistic and affirming.
Other titles in the series: Scaredy Squirrel… at night, goes camping, at the beach, as a birthday party, makes a friends, prepares for Christmas, and prepares for Halloween. Lots of adventures where courage is needed!
I loved the note at the back of the book: “Mélanie Watt never leaves her home near Montreal, Quebec. She would rather concentrate on creating books for kids.” 🙂
Here is a read-aloud of the story. (If you can’t see this or interact with it in your email post, just click on See All Comments or on the Post/Book Title at the top of the post, and you’ll get right to the blog where you’ll be able to click on the link.)
Joanne's Reading Blog 