Ol’ Mama Squirrel warns her young ones, “There’s no shortage of creatures that would love to snack on a baby squirrel.”
But she then reassures them that “It won’t happen on my watch!” And Ol’ Mama Squirrel is true to her word.
She fearlessly fends off furry intruders three times her size – five times her size – even ten times her size!
But when a really big bear shows up with trouble in mind, Ol’ Mama Squirrel must resort to drastic measures to save her babies.
This is a delightful story about a mother’s love for her children, and the lengths to which she’ll go to protect them.
Without weighing the story down with sentimentality, Stein gives a breezy, fast paced, “matter of fact” account of a typical day in the life of Ol’ Mama Squirrel.
Young readers probably won’t make the connection to their own mom’s countless protective actions throughout the day of reading food labels, watching for strangers, looking both ways at the curb, etc., but they will delight in Mama Squirrel’s recurring refrain of “Chook, chook, chook!” to scare off potential threats.
Stein’s illustrations reinforce the comic tone of the story with stylized, squarish renderings of the animals done in ink and watercolor. Kids will especially enjoy the fierce facial expressions of our feisty heroine. Ol’ Mama Squirrel is fresh spin on the special bond between moms and children that young kids (and squirrels) will go nuts for.
Read more book reviews by Brian Rock, a children’s writer and award winning songwriter. Brian blogs for JenningsWire.
