Search Results for: scaredy squirrel

Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping is the latest offering from Melanie Watt and Kids Can Press. I love Scaredy Squirrel (linked to some our past coverage). But until a book showed up on my doorstep, I didn’t even realize that there was a new one out this month. I left it out on the coffee table to be discovered, and sure enough both of my Scaredy Squirrel fans, 9 and 14, dug right in.

Their mom (that’s me) was a little less enthusiastic. I was excited to know it existed in general, but as far as real excitement about the story itself? I don’t know if I could muster that up. Perhaps it’s because the format is so familiar to me, it lacked something? Don’t get me wrong — the format works. Scaredy generally has some sort of problem, something that scares him, and he goes through all the worst case scenarios to be prepared to handle it. He’s cute. He’s funny. He’s relatable. I mean, just look at him in that picture up there — adorable!

In this latest adventure, Scaredy wants to go camping, but also wants to avoid all the uncomfortable elements including mosquitoes, skunks and tent zippers. So he figures out a way to experience camping without actually having to camp — TV! But in order to be able to watch TV, he needs to find a really long extension cord and a power source.

I’m not knocking this book, and to be honest, when I asked my kids if they thought it wasn’t as good as the others, they did not agree. So even though I feel less than super-excited about Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping, my kids like it, and he’s still one of my all-time favorite children’s book characters.

Kids generally like stories about pets. Whether they actually own that pet, or simple beg yearly to get one, domesticated animals are usually a safe and appealing topic for a children’s picture book. Here are three that we’ve recently enjoyed:

Memoirs of a Goldfish is the kind of book my 6-year-old son and I really enjoy: brightly colored, funny, and original (In fact, Memoirs of a Goldfish was his pick that I featured in June, linked to my review). It is published by Sleeping Bear Press and lives up to the high standard that I’ve recently come to expect from them.

Seeing as how I love to read “real” memoirs, the fact that this book is written as 14 different daily diary entries from the goldfish was quite amusing to me.

This goldfish’s life is a little boring, at first. All he can do is swim around his bowl. He wishes for better scenery and someone to talk to. As with most of our wishes, getting what he wants isn’t as satisfying as he thought it would be, and all the new inhabitants and items cause him to stake his claim on his bowl.

At first, I found keeping up with all the characters confusing. They all have names, and are referred to by name (not type of sea creature: snail, Angelfish, crab etc), and my son had to ask repeatedly, “Which one is that?” However, in our subsequent read-throughs, he’s become more familiar, and I think it’s helped the story to hold up. Yes, it’s a book that we’ve already re-read many times, and will likely become a favorite in our house.

Like the Scaredy Squirrel books that she also writes, the Chester books by Melanie Watt are bright, silly, and original, and must-owns in our home. If you aren’t familiar with this series, Chester the cat is the star of the book. Melanie Watt is the author. In each book, Chester the character struggles with the author Melanie, wresting the red editing marker from her and writing the story to fit his own desires. When I found out that the third book, Chester’s Masterpiece, was being released, I hoped it would live up to the other two. I have to say that I think it exceeds them. I do enjoy the premise, but don’t find it nearly as hilarious as my kids, 6 and 11, do (and they do find them hilarious). But in Chester’s Masterpiece, Chester is determined to write his own story. As he does this, author Melanie Watt guides him in creating character and conflict. What a creative and interesting way to introduce kids to the structure of a story! I can see teachers using this in the classroom with young elementary school students to help them identify these elements, or even as a help to older elementary students who begin writing their own stories.

The two books reviewed above are probably most appropriate for kids five and up, but Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes will appeal to preschoolers as well. It’s a story about colors. Pete’s shoes are white, but as he takes a walk, they get stained, blue from blueberries, red from strawberries, brown from mud, etc. The art is whimsical and bluesy, which nicely complements Pete’s character, because he is one cool cat. I think that his attitude to getting his shoes stained serves as a nice understated reminder to kids that age who can be so volatile. Though this is a story about colors, which is perfect for young preschoolers, the plot and humor is enough that it also interested my six-year-old son.

Jennifer lives in Connecticut with a friendly black dog, but her children frequently beg to add other pets to their family, such as a cat, a fish, a lizard, or a bird. If they add another living animal to their home, you’ll hear all about it on her Snapshot blog.