Squirrel’s Family Tree

Squirrel’s Family TreeSquirrel's Family Tree by A.N. Kang, Beth Ferry
Published by Orchard Books on January 29th 2019
ISBN: 1338187368
Pages: 40
Genres: Animals, Realistic Fiction
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Goodreads
four-stars

Explore the secret lives of squirrels and oak trees.Squirrel gathers acorn seeds, sturdy little oak nut seeds. Anticipating future needs, she gathers acorn seeds.

What makes an oak tree an oak tree and what makes a squirrel a squirrel? In Squirrel's Family Tree, things aren't always what they seem. As squirrel searches for, finds, and hides her acorn treasures beneath the shadows of the great oak trees in the forest, little does she know the role she plays in creating the very environment she forages in.

“Squirrrel’s Family Tree”  is a realistic fiction picture book for ages 3 – 7 year olds.  Information regarding  a squirrel’s year round activites are shared with the reader in an enjoyable setting of lovely oak trees.  This story shows how both the squirrels and  oak trees  are connected in a   symbiotic relationship that allows both  to flourish and benefit, one from the other.

A nice book to use in the fall of the year when children are stomping on and crunching  the  growing number of acorns falling from  oak trees. The illustrations are lovely. They fill the pages nicely, are  well defined, yet  soft and sweet enough to endear a squirrel to a young child’s heart.

The book concludes with a two page spread  of “Nutty Facts”  about acorns and squirrels.   Here, children are introduced to  scientific terms;  two of which are:  1) “homeotherms” which is “what”   squirrels  are,  and  2) “dreys,” which are nests built in the tops of trees.

Reviewed By Connie M. Smith, Breakwater School, Portland, ME

four-stars