Book Review: Scaredy Squirrel at Night by Mélanie Watt, in Scaredy Squirrel Series Title 4

Astrologers nevertheless expect the stars to exert daily and nightly influences upon zodiac sign-bearers, asleep or awake. Scaredy therefore feels panic-stricken upon reading at 11:43 p.m. that all dreams are supposed to come true at midnight for his sign, Libra, of September 23 to October 22. He goes into bad dream action plan mode with: 

• banana peels to trip polka-dot monsters; 
• cupcakes to distract sweet-toothed fairies; 
• Do Not Disturb sign posted upside-down for bats to read; 
• fan to blow away ghosts; 
• fire extinguisher to put out flame-breathing dragons; 
• molasses to slow down unicorns; 
• spotlight to make monsters disappear and mask Scaredy's true location; and 
• teddy bear as decoy under blanket and pillow and within safety cone-cordoned area.

Five raccoons, nine ground beetles, one green frog, one larva, one mouse, one owl, one porcupine, and twenty-three moths hide from Scaredy's spotlight. Scaredy is so panic-stricken that he slips on banana peels, sticks in molasses, and stumbles over safety cones before playing dead -- for eight hours -- until after sunrise. From thenceforth, he joins other happy night-sleepers in recognizing the benefits of: 

• clear-mindedness; 
• cleverness; 
• energy; 
• health; 
• joy; 
• memory; 
• peace; and 
• reflexes. 

He keeps only his blanket, fire extinguisher, pillow, and teddy bear from his bad dream chest and horoscope collection. He likes to fall asleep with his fire extinguisher and teddy bear nearby while counting fireflies and trusting in his fortune cookie's message Sweet Dreams! 

North America's native flying squirrel species make night-active life cycles and natural histories work with expanding urban and shrinking wilderness interfaces in sylvan bio-geographies. Both need darkness to: 

• forage for food sources for daily needs, dependent young, and winter-accessible supplies; 
• migrate between cold-weather tree-trunk cavities and canopy-enveloped warm-weather dreys; 
• mate on independent females' non-overlapping territories; and 
• socialize on independent males' overlapping territories. 

So Scaredy Squirrel at Night offers kindergarteners to third graders aged 4 to 8 years a charming fictionalization of flying squirrels being less diurnal because of daytime's daydreams and night-time's nightmares through: 

• Kids Can Press; 
• Karen Powers, designer; 
• Tara Walker, editor; and 
• Mélanie Watt, author and Potato Cut-set text's acrylic and charcoal-penciled artwork designer/jacket illustrator. 

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Scaredy Squirrel is a New World flying squirrel, of which only two species exist.
Geographical distribution of the Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus).
borders of the Glaucomys sabrinus range drawn according to IUCN Red List spatial data: Darekk2/The author of the work and the IUCN Red List spatial data, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_flying_squirrel_Glaucomys_sabrinus_distribution_map.png

Owls, especially Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis caurina), are nightmares for their preferred prey, New World Flying Squirrels.
Northern Spotted Owl near McKenzie River, central Oregon.
John and Karen Hollingsworth/USFS Region 5 (Pacific Southwest): US Fish and Wildlife Service, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_Spotted_Owl.USFWS.jpg; Public Domain, via USFWS National Digital Library @ https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/2222

Scaredy Squirrel is a New World flying squirrel, of which only two species exist; flying squirrels are nocturnal.
Southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) at Ark Animal Sanctuary: Marie Hale, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/15016964@N02/5921781884/

Southern Flying Squirrels (Glaucomys volans) consider a variety of food sources in their foraging.
Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, northeastern Ohio: LASZLO ILYES (laszlo-photo), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/laszlo-photo/927878825/

The New World's two species of flying squirrels (Glaucomys) number among small mammal predators of pesky Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar).
closeup of Gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) larvae: USDA Forest Service -- Northeastern Area, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0, via Forestry Images @ https://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1396067

Doane, Charles C., and Michael L. McManus, eds. 1981. The Gypsy Moth: Research Toward Integrated Pest Management. Washington DC: US Department of Agriculture. 

Watt, Mélanie. 2009. Scaredy Squirrel at Night. Scaredy Squirrel Series Title #4. Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and Tonawanda, NY, USA: Kids Can Press.