Scaredy Squirrel is BACK! - and he's as scared as ever...

Imagine my thrill when walking past a cool little bookstore on Broadway near Chicago's Lincoln Park, when I look in the window and see "Scaredy Squirrel Has a Birthday Party." Daughter #1 and I proceeded into said bookstore to check it out. You may remember my love for Melanie Watts' Scaredy books. And this being a story about Scaredy attempting to throw himself a birthday party, the subject is near and dear to me. We sat on the provided red and blue kids chairs in the kids section and read a great kids book.

Scaredy attempts a birthday party where nothing can go wrong because no fun can be had. You see, he is scared of EVERYTHING. Eventually, the party is a huge success because all of Scaredy's plans fail and all his dog friends have a great time.

Also, the book is full of Scaredy's great check lists, plans and maps. IMPORTANT for parents interested in helping kids with reading - the push currently is for complex text structure applied to non-fiction. You will learn more about this from your kid's school as states adopt the Common Core State Standards. Anywho, when reading non-fiction kids will encounter "text features" and "domain specific vocabulary." Even though Scaredy Squirrel books are works of fiction, Watts incorporates a lot of great, interesting text features with the list, maps, and plans. Good stuff for beginning readers.