Squirrel and Bird by Laura Baker

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We have a lovely blog today from Laura Baker, author of Squirrel and Bird.  She shares some inspiration behind the book with us!

 

WE ARE MORE THAN LABELS: 

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND SQUIRREL AND BIRD

Have you or any of your children/pupils ever been labelled as ‘the quiet one’? ‘The loud one’? Maybe even ‘the cheeky one’? Does that limit how other people see you, and how you see yourself? 

This is the basis of Squirrel and Bird, written by me and illustrated by the incredible Stacey Thomas (seriously, she’s incredible – go check out her endpapers and that amazing limited palette throughout!). This book was developed in close collaboration with the publisher, Little Tiger. They had been looking at doing a book on introversion and extroversion and asked me to explore how these labels might limit a person. At the same time, they had also come across Stacey’s work, with two brilliant and characterful sketches of an intriguing squirrel and bird. We realised we could marry these two ideas, and Squirrel and Bird were born! 

In the story, Squirrel and Bird are labelled as loud, quiet, busy, shy and more by a narrator who is quite hasty to judge… But is that all there is to them? Are they defined by these characteristics? Spoiler alert: of course not! Eventually Bird gets completely fed up by these restrictive labels and shouts, “ENOUGH!” When the characters find their voices, they speak up and stand up for themselves, showing the narrator that they can in fact be a wonderful mix of many traits … and most important of all is just being themselves. 

There is a spread late in the book where Squirrel and Bird make lists of all the different things that make them who they are. Squirrel’s list includes both ‘loud’ and ‘shy’, ‘excitable’ and ‘a listener’ … and I love that! I hope this spread will prompt readers to stop and reflect on their own wonderful mix of traits. What makes you YOU? 

Personally, I have two young boys who are such a mix of things. My youngest especially reminds me very much of Squirrel. He is loud, excitable, silly, sociable … but he can also be incredibly sweet, timid and oh-so-cuddly. I would never want him to be labelled the ‘silly’ one and written off for anything else because of that. 

We hope this book encourages readers to look closely at all the different elements that make them up and learn to embrace all parts of themselves, never being limited by what others expect them to be. On the flip side, we hope readers can look outwards and appreciate this mix in others too. First impressions aren’t everything, and there is often more to someone than meets the eye – give them a chance, celebrate your differences, and you might just make a wonderful new friend! In the end, it’s all about being authentically YOU. 

 

 

Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Federation.