Scaredy Squirrel at Night

Melanie Watt knows a good thing when she creates it and millions of readers agree. We have all fallen for Scaredy Squirrel. I love his name, his overly white rectangular smile and his neuroses. Yes, his *foolproof* plans are destined to fail from the get-go, but it's highly entertaining to watch him plot so carefully, only to tailspin into a wild panic. We shouldn't be terribly surprised to find out that Scaredy Squirrel is afraid of the dark. Technically, he's not afraid of the actual dark, but rather of the bad dreams he could have if he were to fall asleep at night. There are many terrible things that might appear in his dreams, including, but not limited to dragons, monsters, bats and fairies. Scaredy has found a solution to his problem: NO sleeping. He stays awake by being a busy beaver, er, squirrel. Our furry friend creates a list of activities to keep him so busy that he won' t have a chance to even flutter his eyelids. Night after night, he avoids sleeping. Unfortunately, there are some side effects to sleep deprivation, not the least of which is exhaustion. In typical fashion, Scaredy puts together an action plan, involving a detailed schematic. This one is particularly entertaining as it employs molasses, cupcakes and traffic cones. Luckily for the readers, Scaredy's plan is (as usual) an unqualified failure. A horde of hungry raccoons invade the scene, causing him to panic and ... you'll have to read the book to find out. In true Melanie Watt fashion, there is plenty of humor and scads of action. Scaredy Squirrel is his own worst enemy, worrying about the worst case scenarios and desperately trying to avoid them. He's a nut for sure, but we love reading about him and his hare brained adventures!

Scaredy Squirrel tackles issues that mean something to little people. In this particular installment in the series, Scaredy must face up to one of his worst fears--the dark. He is terrified of such things as Polka Dot Monsters and unicorns and does his best to avoid falling asleep by keeping himself busy with such hobbies as playing the cymbals. He has also devised the perfect plan for driving off dread intruders but, as with all of Scaredy's plans, things go awry and he ends up falling back on his fool-proof technique of playing dead. Once again, Watt has created a book that is adorable and funny but yet addresses a real-world issue for small children. Scaredy's fears aren't that different from those of most children but they seem so silly and his methods for avoiding his fears are so outrageous that they provide plenty of laugh out loud moments. One of the best parts of the book comes about when Scaredy turns his spotlight on and the "monsters" that had been lurking on the previous page are revealed. Watt has found a humorous way of showing why there is no reason to fear the dark and yet she has done so in a way that is anything but condescending. She has real intuition when it comes to the way little ones think and so even though we know Scaredy's fears are silly, he is an object of our sympathy and affection rather than our ridicule. One of my favorite features of Watt's books are the Easter eggs that can be found on the flaps. The author information always contains something relevant to the plot of each book. The descriptions of the story are also enjoyable. There is a disclaimer in the description of this book that lets the reader know that it isn't suitable for unicorns. Watt is an immensely talented author and artist and now that we've devoured everything she's written, it's going to prove difficult to wait for something new. I know that we will snap it up as soon as it becomes available.

I love these books and read them to my 4 yr old nephew. He always wants the "silly squirrel books" Even my adult friends read them and laugh. Great books with well thought out stories and hilarious antics. If all else fails, and it isn't part of the plan....play dead. Or atleast that what the silly squirrel thinks. All four books are classic funny any age reads.Atleast once...or twice..:)

Reviewed by Cayden (age 4 ½) and Max (age 2 ½) Aures and Mom for Reader Views (4/09) "Scaredy Squirrel at Night" is about a squirrel that never sleeps because he is too scared. The effects of lack of sleep are not pleasant and take a toll on him. He sets up a plan to try to deter all of the things he finds to be scary but things don't work out the way he expects. Cayden: "The glow-in-the-dark cover is super cool! I think it is funny that he is scared of unicorns. Why? They aren't scary! Monsters are though! I didn't know what some of the words in the book meant like when they were saying the things that happened because he didn't sleep, like the word that started with `ha' (hallucinations). I liked the pictures, especially when he was setting up the traps for the scary things!" Max: "I like to take the book in the dark and see his teeth glow! I liked the scary things!" Parent's comments: "Scaredy Squirrel at Night" is a very creative, interesting book. The illustrations are engaging and my children had a lot of fun looking at them. As they stated, their favorite part was the glow-in-the-dark cover. Some of the vocabulary in the book is a little advanced for the targeted age group, but my children were able to learn some new words from it. All in all, "Scaredy Squirrel at Night" by Melanie Watt is a cute book!

The newest book (book 4 of 4) from Melanie Watt about her character Scaredy Squirrel. My 1st graders LOVE him! He is too funny! In this book Scaredy is afraid of bad dreams...so he comes up with a plan to not go to sleep! A very detailed and well thought out plan. The kids love his obsessive compulsiveness and his need to plan and list everything out. And of course, if the plan doesn't work--he can always "play dead" (a continual back up plan in all the books)! Highly recommend all the Scaredy Squirrel books...a sure fire hit with kids!