The other day I watched a trio of squirrels advance upon my bird feeder. These clever little rodents have figured out (repeatedly) how to open the top of the feeder, giving them free and easy access to the tasty black oil sunflower seeds nestled inside. Eventually, one of the furry marauders crawls completely inside the feeder and has a sunflower seed blowout. I know I should be annoyed by their antics (the birds certainly are), but they’re such clowns that I end up laughing instead of scolding. Sorry, chickadees.
When I picked up Lane Smith’s “A Perfect Day,” I immediately thought about my seed-devouring squirrels. In this sweet and funny picture book, Smith imagines what a perfect day might be for a cat, a dog, a chickadee, and a squirrel. Not surprisingly, it is (in order): sunshine in a flower bed, a wading pool, birdseed, and a corncob. But what happens when a bear interrupts their perfect days? The scene is reminiscent of my marauding squirrels! But at least the bear is having a perfect day. Sorry, cat, dog, chickadee, and squirrel (ha!).
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Accidents happen. Like the time I was carrying Thanksgiving leftovers down the stairs to put in the garage refrigerator, and on the second to last step I misjudged the distance and fell face first onto the tile floor. Amazingly, the turkey remained in the foil pan; not amazingly, my body — and pride — was bruised. I considered not telling my husband, but the one thing I didn’t consider was running away to the library. Perhaps because I work there? I’m not sure.
Running off to the library after accidentally spilling a pitcher of juice all over a living room chair is exactly what Lola the armadillo does in “Accident!” — a hilarious story about a series of accidents Lola unwittingly causes and encounters during her dash to the library. It seems like a logical place to go to because “they have books and bathrooms” and Lola can “stay there till I’m a grown-up.” But the journey there is filled with “MAYHEM!” “BIG BIG TROUBLE!” and “CALAMITY!” all because of blunders, bungles and bedlam. Wait till you see what happens at the library — what a catastrophe!
