The Squirrels Who Squabbled

The Squirrels Who Squabbled is a wonderful story from the team behind The Lion Inside and The Koala Who Could. It follows two squirrels, Cyril and Bruce, who are battling out for the last pine cone of the season. Cyril and Bruce are like chalk and cheese with their personalities. Cryil is a squirrel who loves to live in the moment and not worry about tomorrow whereas Bruce is a thoughtful forward planner who is more than prepared for the incoming winter months. Despite all of his planning, Bruce can't help but want this final pine cone and so the race begins between the two squabbling squirrels at the top of the tree and journeys the through the forest until the pair survive a scare with a raging waterfall. Throughout the book, team work and unselfishness are ignored by the squirrels until at last, they realise their mistakes and form a formidable friendship. The series of books by Rachel Bright and Jim Field are fantastic for their morals and messages, and this one doesn't disappoint. I would happily use this book during circle times in my Y1 class and I have no doubt the children would understand and pick up on Cyril and Bruce's mistakes very quickly. The language used is also wonderful, with lots of rhyming as well as opportunities to introduce new language such as plentiful, scurried and quivered. Grammar elements such as exclamation marks and speech can also be explored within the story. I very much enjoyed reading this book and found myself smiling throughout - I especially like the names chosen for the squirrels and I think parent/adult readers will relate to Cryil or Bruce too. Highly recommended. Picture book / Ages 4+ / Reviewed by Kyle Matravers, teacher.

Suggested Reading Age 5+