Scaredy Squirrel

Book Cover:  

Book Title: Scaredy Squirrel

Book Summary:  Some days you just want to stay safe and sound in your home or wherever you call home and not worry about all the nasty, crazy, weird things out there in the world. Things would get a bit boring if you did that every day, all day.   Well meet Scaredy Squirrel he does this for a while just living in this tree to scared to go anywhere.  Until one day he gets tired of his life of eating nuts and looking at the view from his tree, has a surprising adventure and discovers that he may just have to add a dash of crazy to the mix of life every once in a while.

APA Reference:

Watt, M. (2008). Scaredy Squirrel. Tonawanda, New York: Kids Can Press Ltd.

My Impressions: 

Scaredy is a charmer, from the cover illustration where he’s gamely gritting his teeth.  His graphs & lists & comparison charts, also help out to make this squirrel a loveable character.  Every time I want to do something new I have these same Scaredy Squirrel talks with my self about is going to be safe, will I have enough money, and will I die?  Watts has an excellent grasp of a helicopter mom that has these same worries.  This is a book that if a student reads it they will become introverts or extroverts.  I see the latter happening that the students will want to explore and learn new things about themselves and the world around them.

Professional Review:

School Library Journal November 1, 2011

PreS-Gr 3-Melanie Watt's picture book (Kids Can Press, 2006) comes to life in this humorous production about taking risks. After a cute introduction encouraging viewers to wash their hands, David de Vries's announcer-style voice brings the book pages to life. Simple animation of Watt's charcoal-outlined cartoon-like illustrations accompanied by text from the book depicts Scaredy Squirrel and his various fears-germs, killer bees, sharks, Martians, and more-as he stays safely hidden in his tree. Amusing music adds to the fun of the story as the drama unfolds and Scaredy Squirrel is finally forced to leave his tree-only to discover something very special about himself in the process. Optional features include a read-along version, subtitles, and an interview with the author, which even young viewers will enjoy thanks to the many cartoons interspersed within the interview. The teacher's guide offers suggestions for utilizing the DVD in the classroom with activities for both pre- and post-viewing. Viewers will be left wanting more episodes of Scaredy Squirrel and his funny antics, so have the other books in the series available for them to read.-Cathie Bashaw Morton, Millbrook Central School District, NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Citation:

Morton, C. B. (2011). Scaredy Squirrel. School Library Journal, 57(11), 62.

Library Uses: I would have the students draw or use Puppet edu to create a story of what could happen to Sacredy squirrel if he left his home.  Then would you compare and contrast how our stories are different from the actual story.