Written and Illustrated by: Mélanie Watt
Published by: Kids Can Press
Published on: October 1, 2012
Ages: 4+
Provided by the publisher for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Scaredy Squirrel is back and just as neurotic as every. He is determined that both he and you will have a super-safe holiday, safe from such dangers as the Abominable Snowman, runaway toboggans, and fruitcake. This is the longest Scaredy Squirrel book so far, organized in 8 chapters covering such subjects as Christmas Characters and Pet Peeves.
This is, first and formost, a hilarious tip book. Scareday Orville Squirrel's tips for surviving the holidays include such gems as how to avoid mistletoe mishaps, how to choose ecological and safe decorations, and many others. Also, despite the appropriate colour scheme, a dragon is absolutely, positively, not a good decorating choice for the holidays. Neither is dynamite.
Scaredy is just as cute as ever, even when he has a Mo Willems' Pigeon-like freakout. So are the supporting characters like a mystical unicorn and grumpy dinosaur. His neuroses are just part of the Scaredy package we have come to know and love. Some of the jokes go well over my kindergarteners' heads, but are amusing for the parent to read aloud. No worries though, plenty of child giggles involved.
What I like about Scaredy Squirrel books is that Watt can tell a story with just lists. This is great for kids' literacy, learning about different uses of language. It's a real craft to have such a distinct voice using just lists!
One of the other reasons I am such a huge fan of Scaredy Squirrel is all the extras on the website. The storytime suggestions are great resources- and we get out the hand sanitizer before we open up one of his books! If you need to occupy your kids during winter break (nah!) print out some of Scaredy's activity sheets.
This is the twenty-seventh book I have reviewed for the Sixth Canadian Book Challenge.
It looks great. I'd forgotten about it and now I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the tips on the activity sheets.
ReplyDeleteIf you enter my giveaway you have a chance to check it out in person...
DeleteThis looks like a very fun book. I love a story with jokes for parents as well as the kids.
ReplyDelete