As a teacher, I had a special library for my special times of the year books.  Winter Holidays, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s/Father’s Day, I even had a book I would read around Labor Day (Bruno the Tailor by Caralyn Buehner.) These books would show my students what was going on in the world around them.  Now the world is getting much smaller, much closer with the use of the internet and their worlds are no longer limited to what is in front of them or down the block.  I do not think I knew of another country until I was in fifth grade.  I mean really understood that it was another place and way to live.  My son actually gets Japan and he is four.

Books are a way to bring our consciousness to another level, to help us learn about and develop an understanding for other cultures.   This is why I am proud to introduce you to a great new, locally written but globally illustrated ( by Sanja Nenic from Bosnia) book called The Most Well Traveled Squirrel in the Whole Wide World written by Blaze Kelly Coyle and Andrew Romano (New Jersey).  It tells the story of Tommy, a squirrel, whose home (The Rockefeller Christmas Tree) has been moved! TO NYC!  He must navigate his new world and decide if he wants to stay amidst the Hullabaloo of Christmas in the city or leave the comfort of his childhood home and try to be the squirrel he was always destined to be.   Along the way Tommy meets a Jolly Santa Claus who tries to help Tommy understand what is happening.  This is a wonderful new book that tells of the magic of the Holiday season and the tale of a squirrel ready to set out on his own. 

The story about how this book was put together is inspiring as well.  Mr. Romano's brother was stationed in Bosnia and met and fell in love with a woman from there.  She had a cousin who was an illustrater and she put Andrew and Ms. Coyle (the author's) together and they collaborated with Ms. Nenic (the illustrator) making this an international endeavor. 

  If you would like to add it to your Holiday Wish List them visit their website at www.welltraveledsquirrel.com for your own copy.  Now that Thanksgiving is past I can’t wait to read it to Teddy!