This is a funny book about a hyper phobic squirrel. I tried it at storytime once, but it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped because of all the asides. Probably better for one-on-one sharing. ( )

I am sure of the intended audience for this Children's book. I think it would be best read aloud and eliciting lots of feedback from the child audience to make it at all exciting. I find Scaredy Squirrel quite annoying, especially his pursuit of the "perfect" in everything Although he does have to make some compromises, none of his friends question his motivations. I think a more open discussion of the need to compromise when faced with obstacles to perfection could be better explored.

Genre
Canadian fiction
Humorous stories
Picture books for children
Storytime standouts
Tone
Funny
Writing Style
Attention-grabbing
Illustration
Big and bold
Cartoony
Theme
Overcoming fear
Subject
Adventure
Animals
Bees
Fear
Fear in animals
Flight
Flying squirrels
Forests
Safety
Squirrels
Transformations, Personal
Trees

These two books I loved reading in class and they will be great to read when students are fearful or scared. ( )

Title: Scaredy Squirrel makes a friend
- Author: Melanie Watts
- Illustrator: Melanie Watts
- Publisher: Kids Can Press
- Date: August 8, 2011
- Pages: 35
- Type of Book/Genre: Picture Book, Fiction, Fantasy
- Short Summary of the plot: The story begins with a character named Scaredy Squirrel, and he does not have any friends because he is afraid of meeting someone dangerous that could bite him. The author gives examples of creatures he is afraid of being bitten by, including Godzilla. Since Scaredy Squirrel does not have a friend he finds ways to keep himself entertained like counting, reading, and yawning. However, one day he spies the “perfect” non-biting friend, a goldfish. Scaredy Squirrel then gathers items he believes he needs to make a perfect friend like air freshener, and develops a plan to introduce himself/ways to avoid potential biters along the way. Although, the plan goes out the window when a dog starts to chase him, he decides to play dead and wait for hours but the dog does not bite him. Scaredy Squirrel and the dog then play for hours, and forgets about all the other dangerous biters as well as the goldfish. Later that day, he re-evaluates how to define what a “perfect friend” is.
- Tags/subject headings that describe the content: fear, biting, friendship, plans, overcoming of fear.
- My response: I really like this story, making new friends can be hard, especially when you live your life in fear. I think this would be a good story to present to students about overcoming your fears and letting go of preconceived notions of what a “perfect friend” is.