Just when I think there are no more stories to be written about African Americans in history, I am blown away by new and inspiring books. Each of these beautiful picture books tells a story of perseverance in the face of overwhelming obstacles.

THE LIGHT OF LITERACY

Most folks know that it was against the law for slaves to learn to read, but it’s clear that some were able to learn despite the prohibition. How did they do it? In Light in the Darkness, author Lesa Cline-Ransome and her husband, illustrator James E. Ransome, tell the story of pit schools—large holes dug deep in the ground where slaves would meet and learn from a literate slave, usually at night. The book’s dark blue palette is perfect for showing the fear of the slaves, hidden in the hole while patrollers are about. One especially chilling spread shows a slave being whipped—one lash for every letter she had learned. It’s impossible not to be inspired by the book’s portrayal of enslaved people and their dedication to learning.

A DRAMATIC RESCUE

Another husband-and-wife team, Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin, bring us a tale of stubbornness and bravery in The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery. Stirringly told by the authors and beautifully illustrated by Eric Velasquez, this is the story of John Price, an escaped slave sheltered by Quakers in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1858. The Fugitive Slave Act allowed slave catchers from the South to legally capture slaves and return them to their owners. When John was recaptured and imprisoned by slave catchers in a hotel in nearby Wellington while they waited for a train south, news of the capture spread. Hundreds of Oberlinians—students, teachers, shopkeepers and more—raced to rescue Price. And they did! Thirty-seven members of the town were eventually accused of violating the Fugitive Slave Act and jailed for three months. A moving archival photo of the rescuers adds much to the story. More people will now know of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, thanks to this dramatic book.

DREAMS FULFILLED

In Fifty Cents and a Dream, Jabari Asim and illustrator Bryan Collier depict the early life of educator and writer Booker T. Washington. Collier’s collage and watercolor illustrations are perfect for detailing the struggles the young man overcame to attend Hampton Institute and eventually to lead the new Tuskegee Institute.  One particularly moving painting shows Washington kneeling in prayer while the trees are filled with images of slaves, symbols of his older neighbors who told him their stories. “Booker listened, and carried their dreams with him.” The backmatter—timeline, author’s and illustrator’s notes and bibliography—add depth to this emotional tale.

SEEING RED

Perhaps my favorite new book of the season is A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin. Jen Bryant and illustrator Melissa Sweet, who partnered on A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, team up again with the tender tale of artist Horace Pippin. His story is one of dedication, loss and determination to create art. Using his own words as part of the design, Sweet’s gouache, collage and watercolor paintings tell of the boy who answered the call of his friends and neighbors, “Make a picture for us, Horace!” As Bryant recounts the triumphant day when Pippin won a magazine drawing contest, the reader can feel the excitement he must have felt when the prize of pencils, paints and brushes arrived. Now he could add his trademark splash of red. His life, which was filled with challenges, including a shoulder injury suffered in World War I, was not an easy one. Bryant and Sweet portray Pippin with honesty and heart, introducing this true American artist to a new generation. The back cover shows paints and brushes and includes a final quote from Pippin: “Pictures just come to my mind . . . and I tell my heart to go ahead.” Stunning.

HISTORY REVEALED

Kadir Nelson’s gifts as an artist are on full view in I Have a Dream. Words from the famous 1963 speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are interspersed with Nelson’s soaring paintings of the March on Washington and portraits of Dr. King in front of the Lincoln Memorial. This is no simplistic rehashing of the familiar words. Each page turn brings a new, glorious image celebrating one of the most important speeches of the 20th century.

Need a lift? You’ll feel inspired after reading about five women who accomplished big things, all subjects of engaging new picture book biographies aimed at young elementary school students.

A VOICE THAT ROARED

When a steamship pulls into the New York City harbor in 1903, a surprise is on board. So begins Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909. And never fear if a story about a strike doesn’t sound exciting; believe me, it is—especially in the hands of writer Michelle Markel. She begins by explaining:

“The surprise is dirt poor, just five feet tall, and hardly speaks a word of English.
Her name is Clara Lemlich.
This girl’s got grit, and she’s going to prove it.
Look out, New York!”

Instead of going to school, Clara joins other young women working long hours sewing in a factory under harsh conditions. Markel writes: “Clara smolders with anger, not just for herself, but for all the factory girls, working like slaves. This was not the America she’d imagined.” Thus the stage is set for Clara to lead the largest walkout of women workers in U.S. history.

Enriching this tale of might and right are fabulous illustrations by Caldecott Honor-winning artist Melissa Sweet, whose use of fabric and stitching within her art reminds readers that they’re reading about garment workers. In one wonderful spread, she creates an overhead shot of hundreds of tiny heads hunched over their sewing machines, while the adjacent page shows a timecard with notations of low pay and fines for being late. Sweet and Markel’s collaboration brings this strike to life in an immensely appealing way.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our Q&A with Michelle Markel for Brave Girl.

REACH FOR THE STARS

Henrietta Leavitt made an important contribution to astronomy, and Look Up! Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer does a great job of explaining her role in a way that young readers can easily grasp. Robert Burleigh writes: “In an astronomy class, she was one of the very few woman students. But Henrietta wanted to follow what she loved, wherever it took her.” Leavitt’s journey took her to the Harvard College Observatory, where she and other women worked as “human computers” who counted stars for 30 cents an hour.

Studying stars became Leavitt’s life work, and thanks to a phenomenon she noticed, she helped scientists calculate how far away certain stars are. Burleigh’s lively text brings her discovery to life, while Raúl Colón’s illustrations are not only gorgeous, but inventively luminescent, filled with swirling cosmos, colorful stars and reminders of great astronomers like Copernicus and Galileo. This well-rounded portrait contains a nicely detailed afterword that includes a glossary and resources for additional information.

A DARING DOCTOR

Young Elizabeth Blackwell didn’t like the sight of blood, and was horrified when one teacher brought in a bull’s eyeball to show students how eyes work. These are the sorts of engaging details that Tanya Lee Stone includes in her lively ­biography, Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell.

When Elizabeth was 24, an ill friend lamented that she would love to have a woman doctor, and that Elizabeth would be perfect for the job. That suggestion changed Elizabeth’s life, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer once she decided to attend medical school. She first had to face 28 “no”s before finally getting a “yes” from New York’s Geneva Medical School. There, the male students ridiculed her, but she had the last laugh, graduating first in her class in 1849.

Stone repeatedly reminds readers that Blackwell’s hardships are unimaginable in today’s world, where more than half of the medical students in the U.S. are women.

Adding to the book’s appeal are whimsical, energetic illustrations by another Caldecott Honor-winning artist, Marjorie Priceman, whose style here brings to mind Ludwig Bemelmans and his famed Madeline books. This dynamic biography is sure to speak to a wide range of young readers.

TAKE THIS BOOK, PLEASE!

My, how the world has changed. Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children describes a time when children weren’t allowed inside libraries. A young woman from Maine became one of the leading forces of change, a pioneer in her position as head of the children’s rooms in the New York Public Library system, beginning in 1906.

Jan Pinborough’s biography unfolds in storybook fashion, with the title serving as an often repeated refrain. Miss Moore allowed children to borrow books, and she got rid of the “SILENCE” signs that hung in many libraries. When the New York Public Library opened its doors in 1911, Moore had designed a warm, welcoming children’s room brimming with the best books she could find, child-size furniture and art by the likes of N.C. Wyeth. Pinborough brings this literary crusader to life, explaining that upon retirement, Moore hit the road in an effort to improve libraries across the country.

Debby Atwell’s folk-inspired art perfectly suits this story of a little girl whose big ideas helped change how children live and learn. Atwell’s final tableau, showing Miss Moore setting off across America as the countryside spreads before her, is particularly charming. No doubt Miss Moore herself would give this book quite the stamp of approval!

A LITERARY NURSE

Older students will be mesmerized by Louisa May’s Battle: How the Civil War Led to Little Women. Award-winning writer Kathleen Krull focuses on a life-changing slice of Louisa May Alcott’s life, when she headed to Washington, D.C., to act as a Civil War nurse.

Krull paints a rich historical portrait of both Louisa and the desperate times, infusing her text with quotes from Alcott’s own account of her experiences, Hospital Sketches. Krull describes the extraordinary difficulties Louisa experienced while traveling from New England to Washington, and Louisa’s jubilation on the night she looked out her window and saw African Americans celebrating the ratification of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Carlyn Beccia’s illustrations are equally radiant with historical details, showing Louisa’s long hair reaching down to her ankles, the broad expanse of Pennsylvania Avenue, the unfinished Capitol Building without its dome and the lush countryside around Washington as Louisa ran up and down its hills.

The impact of Louisa’s experiences stayed with her forever, leading directly to her success as a writer. While much has already been written about this famous author, Louisa May’s Battle is a fascinating contribution to the canon.

The popularity of raising backyard chickens and other poultry is on the rise in our part of the world (and probably your part, too), which lends new relevance to children’s books about our feathered friends. We’ve taken a look at a flock of new picture books featuring chickens and ducks and selected four of the best. These books show poultry in their daily lives: laying eggs, taking care of little ones, learning lessons and bringing joy to their human caretakers.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

In Mama Hen’s Big Day, written and illustrated by Jill Latter, Mama Hen sets out to lay an egg in the “loveliest, safest, most peaceful place of all.” But she realizes that finding the best place isn’t an easy task. Among the places she rejects are a rattlesnake’s cave, a patch of tall grass where a fox lies in wait and a pile of leaves that turns out to be a porcupine’s nest. Determined to find a safe place for her egg, Mama Hen searches the whole town until she finds a soft patch of grass “on the tippy-top of the tallest mountain.” But her most important discovery is that the best place to lay her egg is wherever she is. Balancing the hen’s anxious search are happy watercolor blues, greens and reds and loose outlines to create a playful atmosphere. Mama Hen’s Big Day tells the simple tale of a mother whose greatest gift to her newborn egg is her presence.

FREE FALLING

Janet Morgan Stoeke continues her delightful series about the Loopy Coop Farm with The Loopy Coopy Hens: Letting Go. Little readers who are new to the series can jump right into the hens’ adventures without the need for catching up. Apples are falling from the tree and that can only mean one thing for these anxious hens: a fox must be throwing them. The hens summon the rooster who runs from the problem, but Dot is determined to get to the bottom of the apple throwing. She dons a helmet and climbs to the top. What she finds is a beautiful view of the countryside and no fox. After Midge and Pip join her in the tree to survey a beautiful view, all three decide to let go like apples and fall ungracefully to the ground. Fun sketch-like pencil outlines and fresh pastel colors accompany the antics of these ditzy chicks as they discover that apples fall from trees and so can they.

MISSING CHICK

Nora’s Chicks, written by Newbery winner Patricia MacLachlan and illustrated by Kathryn Brown, uses lyrical text and muted watercolors to tell Nora’s story. In Russia, there were beautiful hills and trees, but on Nora’s new farm in America, only one cottonwood grows by the river. Her brother Milo is not old enough to talk, and her neighbor Susannah is too shy to call a friend. “I need something all my own,” Nora tells her parents. When Nora’s father brings home some chicks and two geese for eating, Nora insists on keeping them as pets. Later, one of the treasured chicks goes missing, an event that serves as a catalyst to bring shy Susannah and Nora together as friends. Nora’s Chicks is the heartwarming story of one girl’s assimilation to America, and a reminder that animals can be true friends in lonely times.

PULLING TOGETHER

Based on a true story, Lucky Ducklings recounts a real-life duckling rescue in Montauk, New York. Nancy Carpenter’s illustrations pay homage to Robert McCloskey’s classic Make Way for Ducklings, though her bright colors and detailed faces instill the book with a modern sensibility. Eva Moore’s narrative focuses on the struggle of baby ducklings caught in a storm drain and the rush of the townspeople to help them. With each new development in the crisis, Moore repeats a phrase: “That could have been the end of the story. But it wasn’t, because…” This structure propels the story along nicely and gives readers and listeners a sense of just how lucky these ducklings really were. Eventually, Mama and her ducklings make it safely back to their pond, and we learn in a brief note that the town later replaced the drain for safer duck crossings. Lucky Ducklings is an inspirational tale of cooperation and a quiet meditation on the importance of family and community.

Tom Chapin’s children's song starts winding itself into my brain this time of year, making me think of the joys of living on our planet: “Happy, happy Earth Day . . .” Schoolchildren will play cooperative games with giant Earth balls and spend time cleaning up their environment and helping out with community service projects. It’s a great time to celebrate our planet and think of ways to protect the life it sustains. Here are some wonderful new books to help children connect with nature.

CHERISH THE SEA

Alison Formento and Sarah Snow add another excellent book to their series about nature in These Seas Count! Mr. Tate’s class gathers for a field trip to a local beach where they learn about pollution, trash and the need for beach cleanup. Part counting book, part ecological wake-up call for the young, this book gently informs children about animals who live in or near the world’s oceans. Glorious colorful collages grace each spread, allowing the readers to feel the movements of all the animals. I especially loved the jumping dolphins and swimming jellyfish. Mr. Tate and Captain Ned make the case for interconnectivity, giving the worried children a solution. Cleaning up the beach, counting the giant bags of garbage and scooping trash out of the ocean make the children think about the importance of the water cycle for all creatures.

THE LITTLEST CREATURES

Beginning readers with a penchant for eggs will love Lynette Evans' Whose Egg? On the left is a riddle, perfect for the youngest scientist to ponder: “My egg is emerald green. It lies like a jewel in the dry, red land. I will hatch with wings and feathers, but I will never fly. Who am I?” On the right is a clever piece of engineering—an open-the-flap book that slowly reveals the egg’s contents. This time, the egg contains an emu, but other critters are born from eggs, too—alligators, penguins, butterflies, platypus, snakes, turtles and plovers. The sturdy paper will hold up through repeated readings; it’s a good thing, because youngsters will read it over and over. Illustrator Guy Troughton's warm, highly detailed watercolors fill each spread, and sharp readers will notice little clues as to the animals' identities on the left–hand page. Is that a little turtle arm poking out? Yes, it is! This one is a charmer.

GREEN AND STRONG

Plasticine artist extraordinaire Barbara Reid has outdone herself with Picture a Tree. Just stop and take a gander at the end pages. Each little square is part of an illustration to come—a tiny hand-created paean to trees. Accompanied by sparse text, the illustrations are a marvel of movement, detail and emotion. Starting bare in winter, a nod to the cycle of the seasons, Reid asks the young reader to imagine trees as more than trees. They are shadows, drawings, tunnels, oceans, homes . . . even a friend. The scenes with children playing in the trees are particularly enchanting for young readers, and Reid's nod to the human life cycle grabbed this adult. The adolescent tree blooms next to a group of eye-rolling teens, making me smile in recognition. One spread shows a modern boy, reading in a tree over a river. The reflection is another child, from an earlier time, also reading. Every page invites the reader to look closely and marvel, “How did she make this art?”

IMPOSSIBLY CUTE

Older children love sloths. Why is that? Is it the fur? The smiling eyes? The long arms? Whatever it is, kids love sloths, and A Little Book of Sloth by Lucy Cooke has sloths aplenty! Costa Rica is home to Slothville, a sanctuary for sloths. Buttercup was the first sloth in Slothville, but now, 20 years later, she is the “queen of Slothville.” She lives in in her hanging wicker throne, watching other sloths hang around. Though there are interesting facts galore (Sloths are Xenarthrans, not bears or monkeys; their top speed is 15 feet per minute; wild sloths are actually green; some have an extra vertebrae; it takes four weeks to digest a meal), the photos are the stars. I found myself shouting “LOOK AT THIS!” when I turned each page. Like a viral video of puppies, these photos just are so dang adorable that your eye never tires of looking at them. Three sloths in a basket are accompanied by the text, “Baby sloths are the Jedi masters of the hug. Their innate hugability helps them cling to their moms for the first year of their lives. They love to hug so much; collectively, they form a cuddle puddle.“ Really? Cuddle puddle? That phrase alone makes me feel happy all over. Slide this onto the shelf with the puppy and kitten books, marked "A" for Adorable.

This earth is filled with all sorts of wonders, and it’s a deep pleasure to read books celebrating these wonders. Be like the sloths: Just chill out with these books and marvel at the magic of this earth.

I live in a city neighborhood: not one with subways or streetcars, darn it, but one with houses and businesses and schools. Walking to the village for coffee or to visit the bookstore was a daily routine when my children were young and is still part of my schedule as an empty-nester. These four new picture books offer a perfect introduction to neighborhoods, and will help to get young readers (and listeners) thinking about the communities they call home.

CHILD’S-EYE VIEW

For the youngest, Jean Reidy’s All Through My Town, illustrated by Leo Timmers, is an amusing, brightly colored trip through one such community, as seen by a little bunny from his stroller. Starting with the school bus outside the bakery, we meet a little bear who’s excited about school. Each page contains a simple rhyme to describe the action. The first page sets the tone: “Rising, waking. / Bread is baking. / School bus honks its horn.” Close inspection of Timmers’ super-saturated paintings will bring a smile: The mother bunny is yawning so much that her tonsils show, crumbs are falling from the little bear’s hunk of bread, and a giraffe sticks out from the top of the school bus. Each page is a snapshot of life—the farmers, the shops, the train station, the park, the hospital, the fire trucks— eventually bringing our tour back to the home of the little bunny, who is playing with toys that look an awful lot like his town. With so many details to discover, parents who grew up with Richard Scarry will enjoy a similar experience here.

WACKY NEIGHBORS

Another ’hood, with a similar rhythm and a bit more quirkiness, comes from the Dutch team of author Koos Meiderts and artist Annette Fienieg in On My Street. “Come along with me and meet, / All the people on my street. / Some are strange and some are lazy, / Some are silly and some are crazy!” And, indeed, some of these homes do look a tad crazy! On the first page showing all the houses, one appears to be a fishbowl and another might be knitted. Makes a girl want to turn those pages and see more, that’s for sure. The reader is taken on a trip down the street, from #1, where Mrs. McQueen lives in her castle, to #2 where “Lightfingers” Louis lives with his stolen loot, on down the street filled with delightful characters. There is a ballerina, a sailor, a tea-drinker, a cowboy, a knitter, a collector of bottles, a shell-clad voluptuous mermaid, and finally to the house where the poet and illustrator themselves live. While some of the poems suffer in translation, the idea of a street with a cast of amusing characters does not.

EVENING STROLLS

Wendy is a young collector in Cari Best’s new offering, When We Go Walking. Wendy joins her family (mom, dad, baby Abe and Abby the cat) on nightly walks and always takes her collecting bag along—because who knows what treasures will turn up? While her parents notice the surroundings of their neighborhood, Wendy is busy finding her own sort of treasures: a metal numeral, a broken butterfly, a flag, a bucket and all manner of interesting bits and bops. Brooker’s paint-and-photograph collage illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to the family’s walks, with rich blues and aquas adding a delicious warmth to this tender tale. Wendy’s clothes are put together with bits of fabric and knitted sweaters—possibly leading some readers to wonder whether she found her outfits on a walk.

A DAY AT THE PARK

It’s clear that Emily Jenkins has spent many hours near a Brooklyn park. Her latest picture book, Water in the Park: A Book About Water and Times of the Day, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin, invites the reader to consider the activities that happen in the park on a hot summer day. And there are a lot! A picture book that will appeal to children as well as adults reading it aloud, this special gem is a celebration of water—from the little turtle pond to the water fountain to the sprinklers and gardening hoses and the many buckets that move water onto the slides, into the sandbox and onto hot feet. Children who don’t live in a big city will be surprised to see so many people at the park, and will love finding characters and following their movements during the course of the day. I especially love the variety of folks at this park: senior citizens, young dads and their children, nannies and grandparents. There is even an Hasidic couple pushing an old-time carriage next to the ice cream truck. The story moves slowly, an hour at a time, bringing the reader from sunrise to darkness. Graegin’s detailed illustrations invite readers to slow down and create their own stories about the people at the park. This is people-watching at its best!

Mother’s Day (or Mothers’ Day, if you have more than one) is the aw-shucks holiday of choice for young children. Teachers go crazy with big colorful cards, painted flowerpots and handprints pressed onto everything that is not nailed down. And the books! Around February, books about mothers start arriving and this year is no exception. Don’t miss these particularly stellar offerings celebrating mothers and their families.

NO ONE LIKE MOM

In the sweet department, we have There’s No One I Love Like You by Jutta Langreuter and illustrated by Stephanie Dahle. Brayden Bunny loves his mom but bristles at some of her rules. When she lets him know it's time to get out of bed, he wishes aloud that he could go and live with his friends. His mother overhears, and soon Brayden tries living at a number of his friends’ houses. Missy Mouse’s house is fun—but messy. The Badger family smells of unwashed badgers. The Squirrel family lives so high up that Brayden instantly knows it will not work out. He loves being with Auntie Grace, but still . . . something is not right. What is missing? Of course, it’s Mommy Bunny’s big hug and her special way of scratching his ears. Dahle’s sweet watercolors, filled with the kinds of details that will invite young readers to slow down and explore, elevate this story beyond the expected. On one spread, the text page is framed with daisy fabric which careful observers will see again on the opposite page as the rug under Brayden’s bed. Lettuce lamps adorn the living room, and Easter eggs hang from the children’s room. This charmer is sure to become a family favorite.

A CLASSIC LULLABY

More sophisticated, but no less loving, is Sean Qualls’ treatment of Langston Hughes’ poem Lullaby (For a Black Mother). Collage and watercolor play well together here, inviting little ones to sleep while introducing them to the poetry of Langston Hughes. Qualls’ palette is calm and filled with overlapping circles, mirroring the repeating nature of the poem itself. The mother is front and center, wearing her lace dress, collaged with words from books. She is always looking right at her beloved diaper-clad baby, which is just where children expect their mother's gaze to fall. I especially loved the winding musical notes with the chubby baby singing in delight. The repeating words, displayed in a pleasing, stylized large font, will invite older brothers and sisters to read right along with baby—always a plus!

MOMS IN THE MILITARY

When I saw Melinda Hardin's Hero Mom, I thought, “Finally, someone has written about mothers in the military.” Magazines and newspapers have been running stories about women in combat, but there has been little to offer for children, who are impacted so much. In this companion book to her earlier Hero Dad, Hardin addresses the issue through the straightforward voice of children. Without much fanfare, the children talk about their mothers as superheroes. Six children, holding six photographs of moms in uniforms, are the narrators of this winning book. The moms fly planes, build buildings, fix and drive trucks, aid the injured and lead a battalion. We see the modern face of the army where moms video chat with their children, taking a little of the pain out of deployment. The children and mothers are painted wearing their uniforms, and both the soldiers and their children are from no particular ethnic group, making this universally appealing. Simple. Direct. Honest. Just like these soldiers.

GIFTS FOR HER SPECIAL DAY

A funny take on Mother’s Day will keep the youngest listeners chuckling and making up their own ideas about What Not to Give Your Mom On Mother’s Day. Martha Simpson and illustrator Jana Christy introduce a sassy little boy with red rainboots and hands on his hips who's ready to let the reader know what Mom does not want for her big day. The fun starts with “Do NOT give her a bucket of big, fat worms . . . unless she is a bird.” The pages that follow are a recitation of a number of items that would work just fine for a dog or spider or salamander with hilarious mixed media illustrations. The mother can hardly contain her glee and later, horror, as her little boy suggests more and more unexpected gifts. Little ones will treat this book as a riddle book, and parents will enjoy making them guess at the punchline on each page. Just hope your children don’t bring you a bucketful of mosquitoes . . . unless you are a bat!

DON'T MESS WITH MOM

The world’s most protective squirrel lives in a heart-shaped hole in the city in David Ezra Stein’s newest offering, Ol’ Mama Squirrel. With a loud “Chook! Chook! Chook!” she lets any creature know that she will protect her babies. It’s hard not to laugh when Stein draws Mama with so many menacing faces and stances, her little arm raised in a fist to scold a dog that got too close or let an airplane know who’s in charge. It's as if she is channeling the classic old man chasing kids off his lawn, only funnier. Readers will see Mama from multiple perspectives, demonstrating that she is always on the job. When one HUGE grizzly bear tries to move in on Mama’s territory, it looks like she might have finally met her match. The babies’ eyes, poking out of their hole, show terror, but Mama knows just what to do. When all the mama squirrels get together to beat back the interloper, the little ones will know for sure that they are always safe as long as their mother is there to protect them! Ink, watercolors and crayons come together in a loose, energetic style, and I know I will never look at squirrels at the park quite the same way again! Chook! Chook! Chook!