This is a new publication with a wonderful story. Don Freeman (author of "Corduroy") wrote this story in the 1960's but it wasn't published until his son found the manuscript many years after he passed away. His son arranged for an artist to finish Freeman's original illustrations and the book was published. The story follows a little grey squirrel, named Earl, as he gathers acorns for his family. This was a great connection to the "Grey Squirrel" song our class learned this week and our study of oak trees and acorns.
This is the first story of Earl the squirrel that Don Freeman wrote. In this story, the squirrel needs to find acorns to help his mom. He has some exciting adventures along the way, culminating in an encounter with Conrad the bull. Conrad inadvertently helps Earl find a fantastic source of acorns. The illustrations are black and white with red accents and really demonstrates the range of Don Freeman as an illustrator.
The book on animal homes (featuring squirrels) is, sadly, out of print.
This book by Canadian author Melanie Watt has won numerous awards. It is a humorous look at the life of a squirrel that is afraid to leave his tree. Because this book has a lot going on in the story, we read it twice. The class was challenged to think about how the squirrel was feeling at the beginning of the story and how he was feeling at the end. We even discussed the idea of, "What did the squirrel learn?"
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