THE RAGGEDY RED SQUIRREL

By the author of Wild Animals of Africa ABC (1989), another attractive nature book with outstanding photos. In her own backyard, the author captures charming shots of a red squirrel (smaller cousin of the familiar gray) hunting for food, raiding a birdfeeder, and raising a pair of babies in a birdhouse. Ryden's photos are delightful: crystal clear, colorful, action-filled, and often humorous. Shots of the babies, newly emerged from the birdhouse and sliding down the pitched roof, are wonderfully Chaplinesque. The brief text follows the squirrel from spring to fall; an afterword adds a few more facts. (Nonfiction. 4-8)