Squirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep

Starred review from October 3, 2016
The team behind Woodpecker Wham!, Eat Like a Bear, and other animal-centric books returns to study the ubiquitous, always-on-the-move squirrel. Both contributors are at the top of their game, capturing the habits, characteristics, and energy of squirrels in meticulous rhymes (“Meet the squirrels./ Gray. Fox. Red./ Flying squirrel/ overhead”) and equally precise paper collages. Brushy, textured papers readily evoke the squirrels’ soft fur, their grassy environs, and animals they coexist with; a beaver with matted fur hogs the foreground of one scene, while a bird of prey soars menacingly in another: “Paws for climbing./ Paws to pick./ Paws for cleaning./ Paws run. Quick!” In addition to paws, Sayre touches on how squirrels use their tails and other body parts, the gathering and storing of acorns, and behaviors many readers will have witnessed, such as rapid chases around tree trunks. A closing section thoroughly explores details about squirrels alluded to in the verse, and a closing image of a squirrel curled up in a nest might just help calm children who are feeling a bit squirrelly themselves. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Emily Mitchell, Wernick & Pratt.

Sayre and Jenkins (Vulture View, 2007, etc.) collaborate again, here exploring the habits of squirrels.Four squirrel species native to the U.S. are introduced, but Jenkins' cut-paper collages focus on the eastern fox squirrel. Sayre's simple verses are delivered in short, staccato rhythms, occasionally asking readers to speculate or reflect. "Squirrels chirp. / Squirrels drink. / Can you guess / what squirrels think?" (A groundhog is pictured, without comment, in the accompanying spread.) The pictures nimbly extend the compressed text, showing a squirrel fleeing an avian predator and digging to bury acorns. An ensuing spread shows a row of acorns, buried in the earth below a dusting of snow. "Five are hidden. / Will they sprout?" A page turn shows four acorns in various stages of sprouting, while the fifth, sporting a small hole in its surface, remains inert. Additional information about squirrel habitat is appended, along with suggestions for fostering it by planting trees. Apt verse and appealing visuals provide young naturalists with a springboard for discussion and further discovery. (notes, bibliography of adult sources, website) (Informational picture book. 3-7) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 2-Sayre introduces four types of squirrels in this rhyming nonfiction picture book. The gray squirrel, the fox squirrel, the red squirrel, and the flying squirrel zigzag across the branches and the book's pages. "Nose for sniffing./Jaws to chew./Eyes for looking/back at you." The pictures illustrate the creatures exploring their world, sniffing at flowers, chomping on acorns or seeds, and pausing at the creek to drink. Squirrels can hide under their tails, using them as umbrellas, when it rains. They also use their tails for balance or even as a flag. They have "paws for climbing./Paws to pick./Paws for cleaning./Paws run. Quick!" While there is a smattering of information in the main text, the bulk of facts are located in the back matter. Topics there include "Tails as Tools," "Early Life," "Feeding Times," and "Squirrels: The Planters." Children doing reports will learn about what the rodents eat, where they live, what scientific family and order they belong to, and how they contribute to the ecosystem. Jenkins's artwork is done with ink and cut- and torn-paper collage, produced in such a way that the pictures appear realistic and almost totally hand-drawn. Each page has merely four lines of text or so, with the rest of the layout reserved for the brilliant artwork. VERDICT A fine introductory and informational book that would be equally at home in picture book and nonfiction collections.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2016
Preschool-G Squirrelsred, gray, flying! Collaborators Sayre and Jenkins (including Woodpecker Wham!, 2015) present these familiar animals acting in ways children might have seen out their living room windows. The frenetic activities that mark squirrel behavior roll into pithy observations of how they use their parts ( Nose for sniffing. / Jaws to chew ), how they gather food, and the way they make nests. Each spread features four lines of text, with plenty of action words, illustrated by Jenkins' cut-and-torn-paper collages, which have plenty of movement of their own. Alternating big, bushy-tailed squirrels with smaller portraits that accent close-ups of behavior, the squirrels often look their observers right in the eye, just as in real life. Jenkins has taken a few liberties with squirrel colors (purple?), and in one line, Sayre asks, Can you guess what squirrels think? These embellishments add a fanciful touch to a fact-filled book. The very informative afterword fills out the details of squirrel behavior and supplies plenty of information about how trees help squirrels and vice versa.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)