Author: Ellen Potter
Illustrator: Sara Cristofori
© Date: 2023
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: 104
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: Yes, most page layouts have an illustration
Publisher Recommended Age: 6-9 years
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No
Summary from Book: Cordelia is a girl raised by squirrels in Central Park. Cordelia acts like any other young squirrel: leaping across treetops, chasing her squirrel friends, and sleeping in her tree house high up in an elm tree. But Cordelia still wonders what it might be like to have a human friend. When she is invited toa gymnastics class, she thinks she might have her chance!
But human kids don’t get to know each other the way squirrels do, by chattering their teeth and chasing each other around. So how do they do it? And if Cordelia can’t fit in with the other kids, can she at least make one new friend?
Page Pig Thoughts: When I saw a book about a girl and squirrels, I thought of Squirrel Girl by Shannon Hale and was excited to read it. There was some humor and the story was decent, but I wasn’t overly into it. I began to wonder if I am just used to reading books targeted for older readers now, but I think that this story just wasn’t as good as I hoped for.
I’m not sure if Page Pup will be interested in this one.
Family Unit: Cordelia lives in a tree with Shakespeare the squirrel
Items of Interest:
- Cordelia gets her clothes from Viola the groundskeeper. Viola is the only human that knows Cordelia lives in a tree. Viola had inquired if Cordelia would like to live in a house, but is respectful of Cordelia’s wishes and settles for watching out for her.
- People were in awe one day when Cordelia was chasing after a squirrel. Cordelia gets asked to go to a gymnastics school, which does not go well.
- Cordelia loses the nuts that she collected with Shakespeare, so she is overjoyed when someone brings them back to her.
- Cordelia learns that humans don’t chase each other around to make friends. She is able to make a friend anyway.
- Shakespeare the squirrel had raised Cordelia since she was a baby and he found her underneath a bush. In the end, a wise squirrel helps Shakespeare find peace with Cordelia befriending a human. The other squirrel tells him that if a human finds a baby squirrel and takes care of it, a wise human will help the baby squirrel learn to do squirrel things so that the squirrel can possibly live with squirrels, if it wants to.
Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):
- Book 2 – Shark in the Park
- Book 3 – Central Park Ghost