Earl the Squirrel Tries to Assert His Independence

Last Thursday was Squirrel Appreciation Day. In celebration of that, I posted several squirrel-related reviews, and it got me wondering what books might be out there involving my favorite bushy-tailed creatures. I went searching the online catalog of my local library system, and I came up with several goodies. One of them was Earl the Squirrel, written by Don Freeman, the author of the much-loved Corduroy, about a dilapidated teddy bear in a department store who longs for a home of his own.

Earl is a young squirrel who lives in a tree with his mother. He has a comfortable existence - too comfy, his mom fears. She demands that he go out and learn how to fend for himself, and that doesn’t mean mooching acorns off of the sweet girl whose house is nearby. But Jill is Earl’s friend, so it’s only natural for him to want to visit her, and when she surprises him with a scarlet scarf that she made herself, he’s sure that he’s found the perfect acorn-collecting tool.

The jacket describes Freeman’s illustration style as “bold, arresting scratchboard art.” It definitely gets one’s attention. The pictures are entirely in black and white, with the exception of the red scarf, which stands out in vibrant contrast to its colorless surroundings. The color red also comes into play in a rather alarming fashion when Earl disturbs a bull reclining under a tree laden with acorns.

I love the illustrations in this story, as Earl is a very cute fellow clearly recognizable as a gray squirrel of the sort that is known to mooch peanuts off of visitors to parks in Pennsylvania and many other states. His almond-shaped eyes are shiny and expressive, accentuating his innocence. Meanwhile, his mother has a sharper look to her. She’s a nagging sort of creature, and it’s easy to imagine the stream of high-pitched chatter emanating from her mouth.

The message of this story seems to be that Earl is more self-sufficient than his mother believes and that she ought to back off and allow him to live as he chooses. Earl, for his part, decides in the end that, as much as he admires Jill’s scarf, he no longer needs it in order to conduct his scavenging duties. That’s all well and good.

What’s not so great is the way he comes upon his hoard - by ignoring the advice of a wise owl and scampering off onto a sleeping bull’s back. This seems foolhardy and inconsiderate. Granted, he never hears the owl’s warning, but that just goes to show he’s not much of a listener. And frankly, he’s not very practical. His plan is evidently to go back to the tree every day and return with one or two acorns. If he kept the scarf, he could transport the stash much more efficiently.

Despite this issue, I find Earl the Squirrel an appealing story, especially for anyone who is nuts about squirrels like I am. Earl could possibly use a knock or two to the noggin, but I’d be glad to have a furry fellow like him hobnobbing with me.