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Summary
Summary
For more information about the book and Don Freeman, please visit www.donfreeman.info.
Earl the Squirrel doesn't think of himself as spoiled, but his mother does. She decides it's high time Earl learns to find acorns for himself. There's only one problem--he doesn't know where to look. Earl's friend Jill offers to help, but that's not what Earl's mother had in mind. So, wearing his bright red scarf, Earl sets off on his own for an action-packed acornfinding mission.
Striking black-and-white scratchboard art is accented by Earl's crimson scarf. The effect is classic, clean, and thoroughly recognizable as Don Freeman's signature style.
Author Notes
Don Freeman was born in San Diego, California, in 1908. At an early age, he received a trumpet as a gift from his father. He practiced obsessively and eventually joined a California dance band. After graduating from high school, he ventured to New York City to study art under the tutelage of Joan Sloan and Harry Wickey at the Art Students' League. He managed to support himself throughout his schooling by playing his trumpet evenings, in nightclubs and at weddings.
Gradually, he eased into making a living sketching impressions of Broadway shows for The New York Times and The Herald Tribune . This shift was helped along, in no small part, by a rather heartbreaking incident: he lost his trumpet. One evening, he was so engrossed in sketching people on the subway, he simply forgot it was sitting on the seat beside him. This new career turned out to be a near-perfect fit for Don, though, as he had always loved the theater.
He was introduced to the world of children's literature when William Saroyan asked him to illustrate several books. Soon after, he began to write and illustrate his own books, a career he settled into comfortably and happily. Through his writing, he was able to create his own theater: "I love the flow of turning the pages, the suspense of what's next. Ideas just come at me and after me. It's all so natural. I work all the time, long into the night, and it's such a pleasure. I don't know when the time ends. I've never been happier in my life!"
Don died in 1978, after a long and successful career. He created many beloved characters in his lifetime, perhaps the most beloved among them a stuffed, overall-wearing bear named Corduroy.
Don Freeman was the author and illustrator of many popular books for children, including Corduroy , A Pocket for Corduroy , and the Caldecott Honor Book Fly High, Fly Low .
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Earl, a young squirrel, learns about responsibility and resourcefulness in Don Freeman's delightful tale (Viking, 2005). Earl's mother wants him to learn how to hunt for acorns, rather than relying on his human friend, Jill. His mother believes he is being spoiled, especially after Jill gives him a scarlet scarf. Earl is determined to make his mother proud, and with the help of his multi-purpose scarf, he returns home with acorns. The whimsical music and excellent sound effects bring Earl and the other characters to life. J. J. Myers' narration is spot-on, providing a squeaky young voice for Earl and a scolding tone for his mother. One track contains page-turn signals. The red scarf is the only element of color in Freeman's black-and-white scratchboard illustrations. An excellent choice for story time and for the classroom.-Sarah Flood, Breckinridge County Public Library, Hardinsburg, KY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Never before published, this breezy, droll tale from the creator of Corduroy focuses on a rite of passage for an ingenuous young squirrel. When Earl's mother announces, "It is high time you went out and learned how to find acorns on your own," the carefree fellow instead pays a visit to his friend, a girl named Jill, who gives him an acornAand a nutcracker to open it. Earl's indignant mother says, in what becomes a refrain, "Earl, come in here this instant. I want to speak to you!" She admonishes her offspring for being spoiled and insists he return the nutcracker. Jill then gives Earl another presentAa red scarf she made for her doll. After another rebuke from his mother, Earl fashions a sack from his scarf and goes in search of acorns. Freeman uses his signature scratchboard style, with fine tooling in black and white that plays up both the red scarf (the only additional color, which underscores the item's pivotal role in the tale) and the jet-black night into which Earl ventures on his quest. The Great Horned Owl and Conrad the bull act as key players in Earl's mission, and the comical, nearly calamitous string of events leaves the lucky squirrel with plenty of acorns to make his mother proud. Freeman serves up some laugh-out-loud images, as well as some affecting ones, in a tale well worthy of publication at last. Ages 4-up. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved