I want to share a delightful new book, “Squirrels on Skis” by J. Hamilton Ray and Pascal Lemaitre. In this season of continuous snow storms on the east coast, it is a timely topic–of snow that is! Kids just love the story of squirrels on skis invading a little town as they gleefully create havoc knocking down snowmen and taking over the town en masse. I’ve used this delightful story for articulation carryover (terrific for kids working on /s/) as well as with kids with word-finding difficulties as they re-tell this tale using the fun cartoon illustrations to elaborate and build vocabulary. There is plenty to talk about in a lesson on inference as a certain little rabbit has an illegal business going while happy skiers must go without lunch. Here is my full review:
Kids jump right into Squirrels on Skis, delighting in the zany story of a town overrun by squirrels swishing and swooping among their houses, churches and shops. It’s no wonder this book is a Cat in the Hat Beginner Book with short rhythmic rhymes packed with energetic fun in the tradition of Dr. Seuss. Whether being read to or reading independently, kids couldn’t wait to turn the page to see what happened next. Overcome by this nuisance, the townspeople meet to get a plan to curb the enthusiastic skiers. “Mr. Powers stood up- to make his proposal: ‘There are many good ways to do squirrel disposal.'” Reporter Sally Sue Breeze needs to investigate fast to come up with a plan to save the squirrels from Mr. Powers’ proposed vacuum device. With a deeper plot than many easy readers, this book provides plenty to talk about to expand and build language–predicting throughout, explaining why? and discussing feelings. Descriptive, onomatopoetic words fascinate readers, “With a swish and a swoop ad a crackle and crunch, they had so much fun skiing, they forgot to eat lunch,” building vocabulary and comprehension skills, while Lemaitre’s delightful cartoon illustrations enhance the story providing detail for re-tell activities and inferential thinking.
Available at Amazon: Click here
