Those Darn Squirrels!

K-Gr 3—Great googley-moogley! Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri's quirky and funny picture book trilogy (Clarion) about Old Man Fookwire and his rodent archenemies appears in three iconographically animated shorts. Fookwire is a grumpy guy whose only joy is watching and painting the colorful birds that visit the feeders in his yard. To his consternation, his yard is also populated by "fuzzy little geniuses." In each story, the squirrels use their wiles to make mischief, solve problems, and break through the iron fence around Old Man Fookwire's heart. Seasoned audio performer Kirby Heyborne narrates, unabashedly growling Fookwire's dialogue and reading the exposition with amusement. Playful music is lightly heard behind Heyborne's narration, alternating with basic sound effects, such as birds tweeting, cats yowling, horns honking, and ocean waves crashing. Viewers have the option to watch with or without captions. These humorous stories could have benefited from actual animation to bring more vibrancy to their whimsy, but they are good fun nevertheless.—Jennifer Verbrugge, Dakota County Library, MN