Ol' Mama Squirrel

Starred review from January 14, 2013
As he did in Interrupting Chicken and Pouch!, Stein again shows his skill at finding laughs in commonplace situations. Ol’ Mama Squirrel keeps her squirrel children safe from a variety of intruders (cats, owls, repairmen) with a combination of noise, bluff, and bloody-minded indignation. When a dog threatens, she “clattered in the high branches. chook chook chook! She chattered in the low branches. chook chook chook! She scrabbled right side up and upside down while she scolded that dog.” Stein’s all-too-real vignettes of the angry squirrel’s arched eyebrows and waving fists are funny all by themselves, and when a sneering grizzly bear shows up and the suspense builds, Ol’ Mama Squirrel doesn’t flinch. The book gallops along without pausing for breath, and there’s something deeply gratifying about the story of a mother whose perfect confidence assures that her children will always be safe. Yet Stein makes it possible to sympathize with the victims, too: “They must put crazy powder in the nuts around here!” says the dog she’s chased off. A rousing and rowdy readaloud. Ages 3–5. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House.

February 15, 2013
Don't let her size fool you: Ol' Mama Squirrel is as fierce as any lioness when it comes to protecting her young. Nestled in the safety of a tree hollow, Mama's babies are safe and sound as she fends off any perceived threats to their well-being. "Chook chook chook!" she scolds when a kite, a dog, an airplane or even an arborist come too close. She seems to meet her match, however, when a fearsome bear is undeterred by her scolding and even withstands being pelted by her hoard of acorns. "I'll eat your whole family tree," he threatens in a brilliant spread with an aerial view showing the bear trying to climb the tree to reach the squirrels' nest. "Not on my watch, buster!" Ol' Mama Squirrel declares, and then she calls to all of the area squirrels, who add their own scolding voices to hers in a scene reminiscent of the little fishes' triumph in Leo Lionni's Swimmy (1963). It takes a village, as the ol' saying goes. Kids will go nuts for this title--and in a metafictive turn, one can only imagine that Stein's Little Chicken from his Caldecott Honor-winning Interrupting Chicken (2010) would love it, too, given its focus on keeping little ones safe. This effervescent tale brims with humor and vibrant characterization. (Picture book. 3-7)

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April 1, 2013

PreS-Gr 2-An overly protective mother squirrel shelters her babies from all types of intruders, including a niggling cat and a nosy, sniffing dog. She also scolds kites and waves her paws at airplanes flying overhead. Clattering "chook chook chook" in high and low branches, she sends gullible intruders on their way with great dispatch. Then one day a great, growling grizzly bear climbs into their safe haven. Mama Squirrel pelts him with nuts and takes her "chook chook chook" sound alarm to the next level. "Not on my watch!" she howls. Hundreds of mama squirrels come out of the woodwork, scolding the bear and throwing nuts at him. After he flees the scene, the townsfolk honor Ol' Mama Squirrel by constructing a plaque on the spot where she scolded the grizzly. "If you're ever in town, you should go see it...if you can get anywhere near it." Stein's expressive watercolor and ink illustrations fill each spread. Zany, blocklike animals are drawn with animated gestures, drawing readers into the humorous, but caring subject of a mother's love. Storytellers will find themselves animating Mama's frantic gestures and youngsters will enjoy the short, fast-paced passages on each page.-Krista Welz, The North Bergen Public Library, NJ

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2013
Preschool-G Ol' Mama Squirrel scolds everyone who comes close to the babies in her tree. Cats, owls, dogs, even the arboristall are met with a formidable chook chook chook! But when a great growling grizzly will not be deterred, Ol' Mama Squirrel calls in reinforcements. All the squirrels of the city come to her aid and, in a singular, projectile assault (using nuts, of course), chase the bear away. Order is restored, a plaque is erected, and Ol' Mama Squirrel returns to her irascible, protective ways. Stein matches a particularly colloquial telling with loose, chunky watercolors in a restrained green and brown palette, adding hilarity to a folkloric tale with sweetly comedic effect. Genial details, like the Squirrel family's heart-shaped hole in the tree, compound the agreeable fun. Happy children will demand multiple readings of this insouciant, affable outing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)