Giverny
Book Award^TM 2005

Book: Squirrel and John Muir

Ages: 4-8

Author - Illustrator:
Emily Arnold McCully

©2004, Emily Arnold McCully
ISBN: 0-374-33697-0;
Hardcover - 40 pages.
Dimensions: 11.7" x 8.9" x 0.4";
List price: $16.00 (US).
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, Giroux--New York
 
http://www.amazon.com.
Cover image is used with permission and is ©2004, Emily Arnold McCully.

This book is based loosely on actual historical accounts, and takes place in Yosemite Valley, California around 1868. It features a rather free-spirited girl named Floy (nickname: Squirrel) and her escapades with a 30-year-old sawyer and carpenter, who worked at her father's hotel and who later became famous. It is the experiential science education she receives from the soon-to-be-famous conservationist and founder of the Sierra Club, John Muir, that channeled her mischievousness and energy into a deeper understanding and appreciation of the natural world that lay right outside her doorstep.

Floy was the original latch-key child, because her parents were busy running their business. So, she filled each day's hours with tomboy-like activities and tricks. She became a rather wild and abrasive little girl who frightened most of the hotel's adult visitors. That is, until she met her match.

John Muir had walked a thousand miles when he arrived one day looking for work in Yosemite Valley. When Muir came into her father's employ, Floy's world changed forever. Here was a man who was the male counterpart of Floy, albeit older than she was. He liked exploring nature too, and he didn't feel threatened by her antics. Like her, he wasn't worried about what others might think of his behavior or worry about being odd. He wanted to enjoy nature to the fullest and, as she shadowed him, Floy learned: how to listen to snow fall, what it feels like to be a river rock, how to enjoy a storm by riding atop a tree in the wind, how to appreciate the many kinds of wildflowers, how to study ants with a magnifying glass, and how to identify many native plants and animals. She even learned about Muir's theory of glaciers and how they carved Yosemite's landforms. John saw glacier trails where others saw nothing, and soon Floy could see these too!

Muir had a special nickname for Floy, he called her "Squirrel" because she was rather nervous and curious. Before Muir left Yosemite Valley, he took Floy up to his special high altitude vista overlooking the Valley-a place he called Sunnyside Bench. He said to Squirrel, "This is where you'll have your best thoughts, I expect." It was the best good-bye gift he could have given her. As tears welled in her eyes at the thought of losing her best friend, John comforted her with the words, "Everything changes, Floy. That's nature's first law."

While the story alone is enough to engage the most rambunctious children and lead them to study nature, Emily Arnold McCully's emotive watercolor artwork makes the words on the page come alive. There is more of Floy in most of us than we would like to admit. The book's images show us a spritely dynamo of a girl who goes from 'rebellious' to 'inquisitive' as her mentor, a gentle giant of a man, teaches her many object lessons and observational skills in the great outdoors. McCully's soft and retinal artwork gives us a sense of moments of self-discovery frozen in time. Muir honed each of Floy's senses through his own examples. He had not lost his childlike sense of wonder, even though when he arrived, she almost had. The sheer joy of studying nature gradually replaced her delight in causing trouble. Near the end of the story, Floy even became a nature guide for the tourists who visited her father's hotel.

Do we not all need a John Muir to lead us back to learning the lessons of nature directly? Do we not all enjoy viewing striking artwork full of Yosemite's natural wonders and the two strong personalities who complement and energize each other for good? When McCully's words and images combine, this tale springs to life. This book conveys and displays many of the dispositions required to understand nature and to do science well, and yet, it never preaches--it exemplifies. The visuals capture two vivacious human spirits. It is more lifelike than most children's science picture books, in so many, many ways. It says, don't run away and hide from nature. Immerse yourself in it, study it, and embrace it!