Author: Sebastian Meschemoser (no website found)
Publisher: North South
Rating: WORTHY!
DISCLOSURE: Unlike the majority of reviews in this blog, I've neither bought this book nor borrowed it from the library. This is a "galley" copy ebook, supplied by Net Galley. I'm not receiving (nor will I expect to receive or accept) remuneration for this review. The chance to read a new novel is reward aplenty!
This story's absurdist humor had me laughing. Mr Squirrel wakes up one morning to find a wheel of cheese sitting on the end of the branch that leads to his nesting hole. He thinks it’s the Moon, fallen out of the sky, and fears he will be in trouble if people find it there and think he stole it.
Heaving it off the branch only makes the problem worse, since it lands on top of a hedgehog - and sticks to its little spikes! I think Sebastian Meschemoser has been spying on me and chose my favorite animals to create this story. I used to have pet hedgehogs as a child. They're completely adorable. It’s not really possible to have squirrels as pets - they’re too wild - but I really wish it were.
As if the hedgehog's problem isn’t bad enough, a goat shows up and horns in on the problem, managing to get the cheese stuck to its head (I "kid" you not!). The hedgehog is still stuck to the cheese. Fortunately, a local gang of mice make an assault on the cheese and milk it for all its worth. Curds and whey to go mice!
I loved this story and will be looking for more from this author, if he maintains this kind of humor in them. If your kids are as crazy as mine were at that age, then they'll love it too, I'm sure. The artwork is really well done - way beyond the usual simplistic standard for a young children's book, and really engaging.
