Premium Members Get 10% Off and Earn Rewards Find Out More

Girl Versus Squirrel

Add to Wishlist

Girl Versus Squirrel

Hardcover

$18.99

View All Available Formats & Editions

Hardcover
$18.99

View All Available Formats & Editions

SHIP THIS ITEM

Qualifies for Free Shipping
PICK UP IN STORE
Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Available within 2 business hours

Want it Today?
Check Store Availability

Related collections and offers

Overview

One resourceful girl. One determined squirrel. Great minds meet their match in this tale of persistence and learning that compromise can be a wonderful thing.

Pearl has built three bird feeders—one looks like a house, one looks like a tube, and one looks like a teacup because it is a teacup. After she fills the bird feeders she sits back to enjoy the show—until a squirrel scares the birds away and gobbles up all the peanuts in the teacup.

This will never do, and Pearl declares that girl versus squirrel is on.

She raises the teacup higher and higher and finally builds an obstacle course to deter the squirrel. Does she succeed? Of course not—but Pearl learns that sometimes it is best—and can even be fun—to find a way to compromise.

A strong alliterative text and bold graphic art make this perfect for reading out loud.

A Junior Library Guild Selection!

Product Details
About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823442515
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	08/11/2020
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Hayley Barrett is the author of Babymoon illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal and What Miss Mitchell Saw illustrated by Diana Sudyka. She lives outside of Boston, MA.

Renee Andriani has illustrated over twenty-five books, including Bunny Romero's White House Adventure: The Whole Megillah! written by Margie Blumberg and A Gefilte Fishy Tale by Allison and Wayne Marks. She works as an illustrator of books and cards, and as a graphic recorder, drawing in real time for audiences! She lives in the Kansas City area.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

★ 05/11/2020
Pearl is trying to turn her backyard into a bird oasis, but a wily squirrel keeps outwitting her, swiping peanuts from a feeder that she has taken particular pride in creating (“It looked like a teacup/ because it was a teacup”). Pearl does her best to discourage the squirrel (and even admits there’s nothing like a worthy foe to get the creative juices flowing), and eventually constructs “a network of obstacles... each more squirrel-challenging than the last”—only to be outwitted in an amazing show of squirrelly dexterity and nimbleness. Her admiration only grows when she discovers that the squirrel is a mother trying to feed her babies. “I proclaim your victory,” she says, standing below the nest, “and I salute you, fearless, fluffy sister!” Cartooned illustrations by Andriani (Dudley’s Day at Home) are loads of fun, capturing this backyard battle of wills from every angle. The real star, however, is the luscious text by Barrett (Babymoon), redolent with rousing G-rated expletives and rollicking proclamations that feel almost Shakespearean. “Drat, drat, drat,” Pearl declaims before making peace with her adversary. “You’re a bird-feeder-crashing, teacup-smashing, peanut-poaching pest!” Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agency: Studio Goodwin Sturges. (June)

Publishers Weekly

★ "Cartooned illustrations by Andriani (Dudley’s Day at Home) are loads of fun, capturing this backyard battle of wills from every angle. The real star, however, is the luscious text by Barrett (Babymoon), redolent with rousing G-rated expletives and rollicking proclamations that feel almost Shakespearean."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

★ "A compelling and generous addition to picture book collections that can inspire young naturalists and builders, and create a well of empathy in storytimes."—School Library Journal, Starred Review

"Any animal-lover will enjoy this creative, STEM powered book and appreciate its appended 'Squirrelly Facts.' . . . Dynamic illustrations capture the ingenuity of Pearl’s complex designs and the playfulness of the squirrel to deliver a story kids will go nuts for." —Booklist

"Barrett’s high-energy narrative is filled with action verbs that give it a pleasingly crisp forward movement while Andriani’s illustrations are just as pleasingly varied in their presentation and keep up perfectly with the text. . . . Determination and perseverance—both girl’s and squirrel’s—are celebrated."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

★ 06/01/2020
K-Gr 2—Pearl is a young girl who has built three lovely bird feeders in her backyard. As she proudly watches birds come feed from them, she is surprised that none have touched her favorite one—a teacup filled with peanuts. She soon realizes that there is a dastardly squirrel absconding with the food. This discovery begins a test of wills as Pearl uses Rube Goldberg–like ingenuity to build outrageous contraptions to outsmart the wily rodent. Instead of being vanquished, the squirrel excels at climbing higher, and he also walks across tightropes and jumps through nets. When Pearl realizes this ninja-like squirrel is actually a mother taking the peanuts to feed her babies, she feels an affinity towards this creature and that puts them on the same team. Pearl sets about creating even more elaborate bird-feeder contraptions to help these young squirrels become as nimble and speedy as their mother. A squirrel fact page is included at the end of the book. VERDICT A compelling and generous addition to picture book collections that can inspire young naturalists and builders, and create a well of empathy in storytimes.—Amy Nolan, St. Joseph P.L., MI

School Library Journal

2020-04-12
An enterprising girl meets her match in an even more enterprising squirrel.
Pearl, illustrated with black hair and eyes and beige skin, has just built herself three birdhouses. “One looked like a house. / One looked like a tube. / One looked like a teacup”—because it is a teacup, and it’s the one Pearl is most proud of. While the house-shaped feeder and the tube feeder attract appropriate (and accurately illustrated) birds, the teacup, filled with peanuts, attracts a squirrel—who eats them all. Irritated, Pearl rigs up a taller contraption to foil the squirrel, but the squirrel defeats this easily. Finally, after building a Rube Goldberg–like obstacle course of things Pearl keeps in her “box of useful odds and ends”—which the squirrel navigates with ease—Pearl’s irritation turns to admiration. When she discovers that the squirrel is, in fact, a mama with three kits, the friendship is sealed. Barrett’s high-energy narrative is filled with action verbs that give it a pleasingly crisp forward movement while Andriani’s illustrations are just as pleasingly varied in their presentation and keep up perfectly with the text. (Of note is the sequence in which nine separate iterations of the squirrel navigate each element of the ninja course.) This can-do story is delivered with great good humor, and it has the added benefit of ending with empathy rather than outright victory. Backmatter delivers more factual information about squirrels.
Determination and perseverance—both girl’s and squirrel’s—are celebrated. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Related Subjects

Customer Reviews