Chipmunk Willie

The life of a chipmunk, very much from the chipmunk's POV. Nothing is sugar coated, but nothing is made Hollywood gruesome. Son loved it at three, and I got it out again at 6 and he is enchanted all over again. One of the best children's books I've seen.

This book is originally from the 1950s. In the '60s, my dad came home with an old used copy he got at a garage sale. It became my favorite book when I was very young. It has great color illustrations. It is realistic, not anthromorphic. Nothing in here that would not be of interest to a real live chipmunk. Some of the pictures are just beautiful, and very naturalistic. The book tells the life story of Chipmunk Willie, how he builds his house, hibernates, finds food, finds a mate, raises children, some of whom are killed by predators. I have never come across a book for young children that deals so realistically with nature. There are some scarey parts that are dealt with in a kind of matter-of-fact manner. I gave a copy to a 6-year-old friend, but I made sure to tell her that the book had some things about Chipmunk Willy being hunted by scarey animals and his children even being killed, but that the book is about the circle of life, so it is just nature. As I did at her age, she just loves the book.