School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-Melanie Watt's picture book (Kids Can Press, 2006) comes to life in this humorous production about taking risks. After a cute introduction encouraging viewers to wash their hands, David de Vries's announcer-style voice brings the book pages to life. Simple animation of Watt's charcoal-outlined cartoon-like illustrations accompanied by text from the book depicts Scaredy Squirrel and his various fears-germs, killer bees, sharks, Martians, and more-as he stays safely hidden in his tree. Amusing music adds to the fun of the story as the drama unfolds and Scaredy Squirrel is finally forced to leave his tree-only to discover something very special about himself in the process. Optional features include a read-along version, subtitles, and an interview with the author, which even young viewers will enjoy thanks to the many cartoons interspersed within the interview. The teacher's guide offers suggestions for utilizing the DVD in the classroom with activities for both pre- and post-viewing. Viewers will be left wanting more episodes of Scaredy Squirrel and his funny antics, so have the other books in the series available for them to read.-Cathie Bashaw Morton, Millbrook Central School District, NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
It's an indication of how well Watt (Leon the Chameleon) knows her helicopter-parented audience that she's able to turn the phrase "antibacterial soap" into a bona fide punchline. Fearing attack by Martians, sharks, poison ivy, killer bees, tarantulas and/or germs, Scaredy Squirrel decides "he'd rather stay in his safe and familiar tree than risk venturing out into the unknown." But just in case something goes awry, this most anxious rodent also has an extensive emergency kit that includes sardines (to distract the sharks), the aforementioned antibacterial soap and a parachute. Then one day, Scaredy's unvarying and admittedly boring routine is thrown for a loop (it's the emergency kit's fault), and he discovers he's a flying squirrel-an epiphany so momentous that it garners the book's only gatefold spread. Will Scaredy's life be changed forever now that new vistas have opened up to him? Well, sort of. Watt largely dispenses with conventional visual storytelling; instead, she tells the hero's story through a series of boldly graphic and endearingly goofy charts and diagrams (one outlines the anxious rodent's "top secret," four-option plan for exiting the tree in case of emergency). Funny in their own right, the pages also spoof all the sincerely inane worksheets that are the staple of elementary school homework. Youngsters will go nuts over this one. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Primary) How do you avoid tarantulas, poison ivy, Martians, killer bees, germs, and sharks? If you're Scaredy Squirrel, you stay put in your oak tree and keep an emergency kit close at hand. Day in and day out, Scaredy follows the same routine -- ""wake up / eat a nut / look at view / eat a nut / look at view"" -- never, ever setting a paw on the ground. Sure, there are drawbacks -- ""same old view / same old nuts / same old place"" -- but at least ""everything is predictable. All is under control."" Watt's casual, child-friendly illustrations and tongue-in-cheek text have a lot of fun with Scaredy and his story. The bold, inviting compositions feature simple shapes, black crayonlike outlines, and paint-box colors; varied layouts and perspectives add energy. (One design quibble: the decision to conclude the story on the back endpapers may be a problem for libraries.) When a smiling, roly-poly bee (more bumble- than ""killer"") drifts by, Scaredy panics and knocks his emergency kit out of the tree: ""NOT part of the Plan."" He jumps to try to catch it and -- lo and behold -- discovers he's ""no ordinary squirrel. He's a FLYING squirrel!"" As Scaredy Squirrel would tell you: if you take a flying leap into the unknown once in a while, you may learn something new about yourself. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Gr. 1-3. In a tongue-in-cheek tale that may help to prod anxious readers out of their hidebound routines, a squirrel discovers the pleasures of leaping into the unknown. As the world's a scary place, what with the killer bees, green Martians, tarantulas, germs, and sharks that might be lurking about, Scaredy Squirrel keeps to his tree, and to a precise, minute-by-minute daily schedule--until a supposed "killer bee" actually wanders by, causing Squirrel to dislodge his suitcase-size emergency kit. A wild lunge to rescue it turns into a long glide (portrayed in a gatefold), as Squirrel discovers to his astonishment that he is a flying squirrel. Eventually, Squirrel returns in triumph to his tree and from then on adds a daily glide to his accustomed rounds. Despite the simply drawn cartoons and brief text, this is more sophisticated in tone than Martin Waddell's Tiny's Big Adventure0 (2004), though the message is similar. --John Peters Copyright 2006 Booklist
