SAM SQUIRREL

When spring is late, a young squirrel must put things right.

Sam adores the first day of spring, when Mother Nature—depicted as an older woman with flowing hair—visits the animals of the Quiet Woods. When Sam first met Mother Nature, she introduced him to the joys of list making, which became his passion. Next year, his carefully prepared lists help him realize that both Mother Nature and spring have failed to arrive on time. The animals gather, and Sam is tasked with creating a to-do list for Mother Nature and then delivering it to her, accompanied by Prince Errol the elk. Along the way, they meet Mother Nature’s grandchild Willow West Wind, who’s on her way to housesit so that her grandmother can take a much-needed vacation. But the trio soon learn that Mother Nature forgot to complete her springtime duties before leaving on a cruise. Now it’s up to Sam and Willow to end winter. Selfors populates her enchanting woodland setting with kindly anthropomorphized animals; children will eagerly cheer on the earnest, uncertain Sam, who initially seems like an unlikely hero but readily rises to the occasion. Brief chapters and sentences make this story ideal for independent readers, while the soothing tone and soft artwork keep the narrative tension gentle enough for sensitive youngsters. Willow and Mother Nature have paper-white skin.

Good news for young list makers and animal lovers—a series starter sure to keep readers absorbed.