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This short children’s book explores Squeaky the mouse’s relationship with other animals. Squeaky lives in the People’s kitchen and plays outside with his best friends, Chippers the squirrel and Floppy the rabbit. They meet Lizzie the lizard and play games together. They decide to do a race in which Floppy wins, and Lizzie wishes to have fast legs like Floppy. Then Chippers hits an acorn with his tail, and Lizzie wants to have a big tail too. The next game they play is hide-and-seek. Lizzie wins the game by blending into the color of the tree, as she is a chameleon. She learns from this that everyone has special talents, including her. The book ends with five discussion questions that help young readers understand their relationship to the story.
Designed for very young children, the book is well-written, and the moral of the story—that everyone is important and has their own abilities—comes across in an easy-to-understand manner. The characters are sweet and reveal the importance of animals in life and what they offer to the world while telling a fun story. It also shows how to make friends by playing games and demonstrates compassion towards someone sad. The five ending discussion questions offer a way for children to think about the story instead of just reading it. The illustrations are nicely done and greatly add to the storyline. The book is one in a series that offers different life lessons on how to interact with others positively and should be a series that is valuable for learning values early in life.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review