Little Squirrel

The text of Little Squirrel is very simple, and the brief storyline is uncomplicated: a squirrel prepares for winter by gathering nuts and justifiably reaps the benefit of his diligence. Noting that this is a translation from Britta Teckentrup’s original German version, there is a small assumption that the “old oak” will be understood to mean ‘old oak tree.’ While reading this to my toddler, I repeatedly supplied ‘tree’ on my own to make sure she understood what was being referred to in the story. More out of curiosity rather than as a criticism, it’s interesting that halfway through the story the generic squirrel is given an official, capitalized name, Little Squirrel. This is somewhat inconsistent overall; yet, I don’t think it would affect the primary audience’s reading of the story.

The most appealing part of this book are the illustrations. Teckentrup crafts a cute-looking protagonist and includes other visual details, such as ladybugs, bees, and snowflakes, that any young child would be delighted to find on the page. Teckentrup makes use of bold colour choices. On the one hand, these are visually engaging and great conversation starters with young children; however, on the other hand, neon blue leaves or pink and purple acorns seem to be strange choices for a book situated in the Orca’s “All Natural” series which claims to feature the natural world. Nevertheless, Teckentrup makes great use of the visual space on each page. For example, readers’ eyes are drawn across the page by following the gaze of the protagonist. Furthermore, I did enjoy the two-paged vertical spread used singularly to demonstrate the volume of beechnuts and acorns the squirrel stores underground.

While Little Squirrel may not be a vital purchase, it certainly is visually entertaining for a young reader, and, likely, it can inspire collaborative dialogue between caregiver and child. Thus, I would recommend this book for the library or home bookshelf, especially given the reasonable price and eco-friendly construction.