Triptych: Squirrels.

So you might be wondering, why squirrels, exactly? To which I reply: Have you read Scaredy Squirrel? From the very first time I cracked open Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watts, I have a renewed appreciation for the bushy tailed bandits. He made me laugh, cry, and most importantly, realize the importance of hand sanitizer. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I encourage you to read the book. I considered doing my triptech on the "scaredy" aspect of the book and focusing on fear, but while reading through other books in search of some inspiration, I was struck by two other squirrel books that I just happened to love. So squirrels it is. These books would be fun to incorporate into a unit on hibernation or fall/winter for grades K-3.

~Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watts. (a cool Canadian author) Scaredy Squirrel is a bit odd, random, and extremely neurotic. He is afraid of all things that are located in what he considers the "unknown," anywhere outside of the nut tree in which he resides. To alay his fears, he makes lists of all the things he is afraid of and shares them with readers. Some fears that make the list: killer bees, poison ivy, green Martians, germs, and sharks. All things are going as planned as he lives his routine life in his tree, complete with an emergency kit for any unforeseen dangers, until one day a killer bee approaches! ARGHHH! Scaredy Squirrel must think quickly, somehow turn into a flying squirrel, and then master the art of playing dead. Through his adventure, he learns a valuable lesson: maybe sometimes leaving your tree isn't such an awful thing! Thus, conquering his fear. Whew. There are now 4 books in the series, which are all enjoyable and hilarious reads. Fun idea: before reading this book with kids, make sure you follow Scaredy Squirrel's advice and give everyone a bit of antibacterial gel. These books are cleverly written using fun pictures, lists, and maps that are invaluable to the story. This book would be particularly good to use for when kids are learning to tell analog time since Scaredy Squirrel meticulously lists everything he does during the day on tiny clocks in the story. ~Micawber by John Lithgow. (a funny actor and author) Micawber, a squirrel who lives in the top of the carousel in Central Park, has a certain affection for fine art. Through the skylights at the art museum on Fifth Avenue, Micawber spends his days studying the great artists, until one day he notices an artist who was attempting to copy the strokes and shading of one of the masterpieces. Inspiration strikes- he'd never thought of painting something himself! Curious, Micawber follows her home and sneaks into her apartment, where he finds all sorts of magical tubes of COLOR! He borrows some tubes, and ingeniously uses his own handy-dandy tail as his paintbrush to create masterpieces of his own! Next time you find yourself in Central Park, you might just want to take a second glance up at the old carousel, which now houses Micawber's own gallery of masterpieces. A charming story, told with great rhythm, rhyme and rich vocabulary, uses bright and beautiful pictures drawn from interesting perspectives to achieve a masterpiece all its own.

~ Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin. (a new guy from Chicago) Old Man Fookwire was so ancient, he sneezed dust. He hated pie. He hated puppies. And thus the story begins. It seemed that the only thing Old Fookwire had space for in his grumpy heart were his snacks of cottage cheese with pepper, and birds. He loved birds more than anything and spent all of his time painting them. To lure the birds to stay and keep him company instead of flying South, Fookwire devised a plan to create beautiful birdfeeders to feed them through the winter. The only problem: "those darn SQUIRRELS!" These clever squirrels were up for any challenge Fookwire threw their way, including traps, tricks, and lasers. Carefully mapping out their plans of attack, the squirrels become worthy adversaries for the puppy-hater. Will they ever settle their differences and be able to work out an arrangement to keep them both happy? You'll have to read the story to find out! This book is a 2009 nominee for the Ladybug Picture Book Award. The pictures are whimsically drawn using watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil that complement a story that's sure to please readers of all ages.