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readingthroughtheages's review against another edition
Hmmm. There were some things that bothered me about this one. The fact that the father repeatedly says, "there goes the neighborhood" when a new (unwanted) animal moves into "their" tree is not a phrase I want to introduce young readers to.
maidmarianlib's review against another edition
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Has a nice message about inclusion.
chachacenteno's review against another edition
1.0
Subtle words and illustrations send an interesting message. "A universal story about respect, inclusion, and acceptance" reads on the last page. "Othering" the non-squirrel animals based on living models and "noise" differences made me, as a reader, give pause. Even though the younger squirrel friended many diverse animals, the other squirrels did not "respect or accept" them until the non-squirrel animals that were previously rejected, and in some images treated with disrespect and dislike, extended a helping wing and paw to save the squirrels from harm. Does this truly demonstrate respect, inclusion, and acceptance?
skorchumova's review against another edition
1.0
Entirely disappointing. The art is sweet and the title and cover really drew me in, but the story is terrible and at this point should be completely outdated but apparently isn’t. This book is about a family of squirrels who live in an oak tree, and the story is that other animals move in and start living in the oak tree and the family of squirrels are not happy about it. Every two pages the dad says, “There goes the neighborhood!” I couldn’t believe that a current-day book for children would so blatantly give animals the worst of human traits and completely normalize them. This is the attitude and language of racism and all kinds of discrimination. To make things worse, at the end, the squirrel family move out because they decide the tree isn’t for them anymore now that so many “other” animals are living there, but the other animals welcome them and throw a party for them. So the moral of the story is that it isn’t on the squirrels to figure out how to accept other animals, but that it’s on those who are “different” to celebrate and make those who ostracized them feel welcome and comfortable. No, thank you. I refuse to teach my child that he can go around being close-minded and it’s everyone else’s responsibility to make him feel more comfortable and accepted.
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