Caped Crusader Reader: Unlimited Squirrels--Who Is the Mystery Reader?: The Big Story by Mo Willems

Four squirrels approach a big yellow sign that reads STOP. But the squirrels cannot read the sign. Discombobulated, they squeak and squabble about what to do!

“Excuse me!” says a authoritative voice. "Why not READ IT?"

Who is this mysterious speaker from out of nowhere? The squirrels are awestruck!

"THE MASK!

THE UNDERPANTS!

IT’S THE–-MYSTERY READER!”

Ah, yes! It’s that caped crusader who combats illiteracy among squirrels wherever he finds it. Equipped with the secret knowledge of that awesome power–-phonics-–he roams the forest and fields, fighting for the unlettered among his kind–-enlightening unschooled squirrels with elite knowledge of consonants vowels, diphthongs, and blends.

In the latest Mo Willems’ series of early readers, Who is the Mystery Reader? (Unlimited Squirrels) (Hyperion, 2019), young scholars are engaged with the non-reading squirrels to begin to learn the sounds of the letters to “sound out” the words along with Willems' eager reader squirrels. Like the many popular easy readers written by Dr. Seuss, author-illustrator Mo Willems is the go-to guy for engaging stories for beginning readers--a mystery reader leader who teaches with rhyme and repetition and with wit and wisdom.

The first book in this series is I Lost My Tooth! (An Unlimited Squirrels Book), which joins author-illustrator Willems' beloved Elephant and Piggy and The Pigeon series, letter perfect for emergent readers.

The Usual Suspects: Who Stole the Hazelnuts!: A Forest Mystery by Marcus Pfister

All was quiet and all was still.
Until there came a scream so shrill.
The voice shrieked, "This is what I feared!
My hazelnuts have disappeared!"

Squirrel is freaking out. Someone has filched his nuts!

He's certain one of his forest friends must have swiped the cache, so he questions each one--Mole, Mouse, Bunny, and Hamster--but all decline to cop a plea.

"I know for a fact it isn't ME!"

Fox, however, takes a different denial defense. He's no vegan, he laughs.

"Me? Steal nuts? Don't be daft!
Chickens I'd steal. Lovely to chew.
Stay around, and I'll chew you, too!

Whoa! Squirrel makes himself scarce after that warning. Sadly he returns to his tree, without his precious hazelnuts and distinctly rumbly in the tumbly. But what does he see right under his tree?

What he sees there makes Squirrel quite sheepish, and he has to confess! He's the one who caused all this distress!

He's one repentant rodent, in Marcus Pfister's tale of the missing trove of nuts, Who Stole the Hazelnuts? (NorthSouth Books, 2019). Pfister's false accusation story is a good cautionary tale for youngsters who can be too quick to accuse others, and the noted author-illustrator's delicious rhymes and gorgeous illustrations make this a memorable seasonal mystery. Pfister's artwork, known for lush watercolor illustrations as in his top-selling The Rainbow Fish series (see reviews here), make this one an elegant entry into the autumn stories lineup, and David Henry Wilson's skillful English revision from the original German loses nothing in the translation. Recommended for all primary seasonal collections.

Rodentia, Unite! Cyril and Pat by Emily Gravett

Lake Park only had one squirrel, all alone and sad (poor Cyril).

Until one morning, he met Pat,

his new best friend, a big gray...

SQUIRREL!

Just Like Me!

Overlooking the, er, unfortunate, um, baldness of Pat's long pink tail, Cyril feels he's found a soul mate, someone as squirrelly as he!

Cyril and Pat spend the day in merry play, stealing rides on skate boards and teasing the pigeons. One pigeon tries to point out that Pat is an unsuitable companion.

"Can't you see that your friend is not like you? Your friend's a..."

Cyril interrupts rudely to say his friend Pat is a...

"REAL JOKER!"

The two merry tricksters continue their pesky ways. When the people toss bread to the ducks and geese in the pond, Pat promptly dives in to grab a piece, and when the geese grump at Cyril, pointing out that his friend is not who he thinks he is, Cyril calls him a great sharer! And when the Slim, the feisty terrier chases both of them, the tricky two split up, and he can't catch either one.

But, alas, one day when Cyril is using his bright eyes and cute twitchy tail to entice a peanut from a woman, her child catches sight of Pat.

"Oh, Mom...A... RAT!"

All the residents of the Park agree! Cyril just can't keep company with a dirty, disgusting RAT! Sadly, Cyril must part company with Pat. But being alone is NO FUN.

And when Slim the terrier takes advantage of Cyril's solo state to resume the perennial war between dogs and squirrels, Cyril finds himself pursued and cornered amidst tumbled trash cans on a dark street, without a tree in sight. If ever a squirrel needed a friend (especially one who hangs out with an army of his kind), Cyril does, and this friend in need is a friend indeed, in Emily Gravett's comic story of an odd couple of buddies, Cyril and Pat (Simon and Schuster, 2019).

Notable author Emily Gravett is the perfect mistress of tales with clever wit and wisdom included, and artist Gravett comes up with funny but lovable characters and pages filled with comic sight gags that will hold kids attention on each page. Emily Gravett's first book, Wolves was the winner of the Kate Greenaway Prize, the British equivalent of the Caldecott Award, and her Orange Pear Apple Bear (Classic Board Books) has become a classic toddler tale.

Don't Call Me Snaggletooth! I Lost My Tooth! (Unlimited Squirrels) by Mo Willems

"Th Th Th!"

"What did you say, Zoom Squirrel?"

"I lost my tooth, Th-ip Thquirrel!"

"Did you say you lost your tooth?

"Oh, YETH!"

Being a snaggletoothed squirrel is therious buthineth, I mean, serious business, for a squirrel. Zoom Squirrel's friend Zip goes into high speed thearch, I mean, search, mode. He asks Zoom to describe the missing tooth.

"Um, it wath a baby tooth!"

"OH, NO! Poor baby! All alone!""

The assorted squirrels are mobilized for the great search-and-rescue molar mission, scouring the forest floor and leafy branches, and looking under assorted pillows--just in case some sneaky squirrel might have decided to capitalize on an ill-gotten incisor--until Zip Squirrel returns to announce he's found his own tooth!

Zoom Squirrel and friends take over. They pop the tooth into a baby buggy and shush all the squirrels so that the baby tooth can take a nap. Zip Squirrel cannot believe his silly friends.

"I learned something today.

Squirrels do not know much about teeth!"

In a nutty squirrel story, the Caldecott-winning Mo Willems is back with Book I of his new beginner reader series, I Lost My Tooth! (Unlimited Squirrels) (Hyperion Books, 2018). There are a host of nutsy rodentia in the cast of characters, including even Research Squirrel, who fact-checks the story and tells young readers more than they may want to know about the anatomy of the tooth, plus some nutty riddles* and a Squirrel Quiz for youngsters to check their store of knowledge. There are even emoti-acorns to help youngsters recognize the assorted emotions among the characters. More from Mo is good!

*What do you call a bear who doesn't brush his teeth? A GUMMY BEAR!

Heart-y! The Secret Life of Squirrels: A Love Story by Nancy Rose

Most squirrels spend their days scrambling up trees and searching for nuts.

Not Mr. Peanuts!

Hunting for nuts can make for a solitary life for squirrels. One is the loneliest number, and a glimpse of Mr. Peanut's clothesline, hung with big red hearts, suggests that Mr. Peanuts is lookin' for love!

Shopping for food would be more fun if he were cooking dinner for a friend.

Mr. Peanuts pushes his grocery cart in lonely isolation through the supermarket. He drops his penny and makes a wish at the local wishing well. He pulls out his tennis racket and heads to the park, but there's no one to make a match with Mr. Peanuts there either.

Whenever Mr. Peanuts is lonely, he goes to the bookstore.

And there, in a movie-perfect "cute meet" he encounters another squirrel reading his favorite book. She introduces herself as Rosie, and the two hit it off immediately.

He's absolutely nuts about Rosie.

There's a cozy and romantic candlelight Valentine dinner for two in Mr. Peanuts' future, in Nancy Rose's latest squirrel saga, The Secret Life of Squirrels: A Love Story (Little, Brown and Company, 2016). Author Rose not only writes the narrative, but handcrafts everything seen her cozy vignettes, from bent-twig furniture to a bunch of tiny books, all about squirrels, at the bookstore. Stage manager Rose is also her set designer, setting the stage with hidden treats to lure squirrels onto the set, and photographer Rose shoots many shots to get just the right poses out of the unsuspecting and wild bushy-tailed "actors" in her own backyard. Kids will warm to her theme of friendship in each book, but they also love to pore over and over the illustrations, noticing the delightful diminutive details of Nancy Rose's creations.

Other squirrel tales by Nancy Rose are The Secret Life of Squirrels and Merry Christmas, Squirrels! (see my reviews here).