Candlewick Press
Copyright © 2015 Lisa Moser
Illustrations Copyright © 2015 Valeri Gorbachev
The story
Squirrel wants to have a fun, fun, fun day with all of his friends. But Squirrel can’t get Mouse to stop working. He can’t get Turtle to leave his log. And he can’t get Rabbit to try anything different. In his own energetic, don’t-stop-to-think way, Squirrel shows his friends how to lighten up and have fun. But when things go wrong―as they usually do―Squirrel’s friends rally around him with a big surprise.
How it was written. . .
Staring out of a window is one of my special talents. To the outsider, it might look like I’m not doing much of anything at all, but in reality, I’m working. Working hard. Daydreaming, thinking, imagining all takes time. Because I daydreamed and watched a squirrel at play, I wrote my book, Squirrel’s World. And I absolutely fell in love with the main character.
​
Once you create a world in your imagination, it’s hard to leave. I knew the details of the characters so clearly. Rabbit is afraid of many things—the dark, getting wet, losing his way. Turtle falls asleep all the time, except for bed time. Mouse is always looking ahead, stocking food, cleaning house. And of course, there’s Squirrel—loveable, impulsive, kind-hearted, never-look-before-you-leap Squirrel. Squirrel binds them all together, takes them on new adventures, and fills their world with laughter amidst the chaos.
​
I also loved the world where they lived. I pictured the woods, trees, pond, hills, streams, and fields so vividly in my mind. I knew I had to write another book about these four characters and their wonderful wooded home. I simply wanted to live in that world and play with those characters some more.
Reviews
• "Two cheery picture books for young readers, meanwhile, capture the pleasures of a hectic, productive day and the exhilarating, if sometimes fraught process of winning friends. For beginning readers, or as a read-aloud, Lisa Moser's Squirrel's Fun Day introduces a small, scrappy hero so ebullient that he can't help repeating himself."
-The Wall Street Journal, Saturday, June 8, 2013
​
• "Take one appealing, energetic, spunky and absolutely indefatigable squirrel. Add a quiet mouse who loves his house, a slow-walking, fast, swimming turtle, and a rabbit full of habits, and you have the recipe for an advanced early reader replete with action, humor and warmth."
-Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2013
​
• "Gorbachev's earth-toned ink-and-watercolor illustrations amplify the story's buoyant humor and highlight the animals' personalities, from Squirrel's exuberance to Rabbit's cautiousness. . . the feel-good ending cements this quartet's friendship."
-Publishers Weekly, April 22, 2013
​
• "A great, great addition to delight fans of Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad Are Friends (HarperCollins, 1970) and Wong Herbert Yee's Upstairs Mouse, Downstairs Mole (Houghton Mifflin, 2005)."
-Laura Scott, School Library Journal, 2013