Chapter details | Nuts to You

The blog is here to support your experience.

Ultimately the FAMILY should be reading the text aloud together!

Author's note A squirrel who likes sandwiches, especially chunky peanut butter, isn’t so surprising. But a squirrel who speaks English… to people, that’s Amazing! I wonder what this great adventure story will be about.	Chapter 1 Have you heard of the boy who cried wolf? This is the problem with Jip. He says things that aren’t true and then nobody believes him when there is real danger. Now his cousin is in trouble and who knows where he’ll end up!	Chapter 2 Just when you think things are really really bad, you might realize they could be worse. That’s what happens to Jed. He thinks he’s doomed, but then realizes that he’s ok, he just needs to escape the hawk’s talons. How will he do that? And will he survive the fall?
Chapter 4 The squirrels gather around to remember their friend and family member that was taken. They have no idea that he might still be alive somewhere. They assume that he was taken by a hawk and they’ll never see him again. Are they right?	Chapter 5 Jed is alive!!! His environment is different, but trees are trees and leaves are leaves and the sun is still shining. He meets some new squirrel friends. They talk a little differently, but they are friendly. They help him make a nest and have some dinner before he falls asleep wondering if this is his new home.	Chapter 3 TsTs can’t believe what she saw. She is determined to find Jed and has now convinced another friend to join her. The buzzpaths should lead them right to Jed - at least she thinks so. Chai is pretty nervous about traveling that far from the grove, but Jed is his best friend so he has to at least give it a try.
Chapter 6 TsTs and Chai get distracted from their mission. All of this running has made them playful and now they’ve lost track of time. They decided it’s best to stay overnight and find a safe place to cuddle up. Too bad neither of them shouted out for Jed; they were SO close.	Chapter 7 Jed is having a tough night away from home. He can’t seem to catch much sleep without terrible dreams interrupting him. Hopefully he can rest so that he has energy for another big day tomorrow. Trying to find his way back home!	Chapter 8 The new friends were asking Jed to tell the story about how he escaped from the hawk. He talked about turning like water and then it turned it into a game for them all to play. Just as they were acting like water, Chai and TsTs come along and wonder what is wrong with the squirrels in the area. They stumble upon Jed only to be on the run again, this time trying to escape the rumbling sound and falling branches.
Chapter 9 Everyone was so busy running and scattering that nobody stopped to see where the noise was coming from. TsTs finally stopped and tried to figure it all out. She can’t quite figure out what the humans are doing. And now she can’t find her friends either.	Chapter 10 (split in 2 recordings) TsTs is brave enough to get close to the humans. What are they doing here? Are they going to destroy more of the grove? What about their homes further down the buzzpaths? They have to find Chai and get home right away to warn the others!	Chapter 11 When the limbs started falling, Chai must have taken off in a different direction than TsTs and Jed. Now he is all alone and just keeps getting further and further from where he last saw his friends. How will he ever find them now?
Chapter 12 Well luckily it sounds like the humans aren’t going to destroy the whole forest, just clearing a few trees near the buzzpaths. If only there was a way for the squirrels to understand the humans.	Chapter 13 Chai is looking around and can’t seem to find his friends, but he meets some red squirrels and they know Jed so that’s a good sign. From way up high he realizes something about the spiderwebs and thinks about how to warn the others. But how? The chapter ends asking the reader, “What would you do, if it were you?”	Chapter 14 TsTs and Jed are busy looking for Chai, they aren’t the only ones looking for their friend though. Maybe some clues will help them find him. TsTs mentions that she made contact with the humans and they offered her food. But can they be trusted?
Chapter 15 Jed and TsTs find another squirrel in the confusion and she has seen Chai! Most of the forest creatures are going a bit wild trying to figure out what is going on, but the farther they are from the noise, the less afraid they are. The new friend joins Jed and TsTs, her name is Tchke.	Chapter 16 Tchke’s life has been very different from the life of Jed and TsTs. She was raised by her grandfather after her mom and brother were destroyed by the “human beetle”. He was a busy squirrel and taught her many things about the world…. A wise old squirrel. Now a cold front has moved in and they know it’s best to stay put for at least one night.	Chapter 17 Chai is somewhere else, but also looking to escape the weather and get somewhere cozy for the cold, wintery night. He finds a little crevice to hide in, but someone saw him enter and how it’s waiting outside for Chai to come out. Have you ever been between a rock and a hard place?
Chapter 18 The storm has passed and Chai woke up, but now the bobcat is asleep. Hmmm what should he do about this? Maybe he can sneak away from the bobcat now while he naps? If he doesn’t do it now, he may be hiding there for a LONNNNNNGGGG time.	Chapter 19 Finally Jed, TsTs, Chai and Tchke are all together. 4 squirrel brains are better than 3 and they finally have a plan. They are using what they know best about squirrels to help deliver their message. Squirrels love to play games! They develop a plan and now it’s time to play!	Chapter 20 Jed tells a quick story and keeps it very basic so there are no questions and they can get right to the game. Teams are formed “tails in” and Jed goes over the directions. Even though Chebby is suspicious that this isn’t really a game, she goes along with the plan.
Chapter 21 It wasn’t easy and took some trickery, but all of the squirrels moved from their grove to another one safely by playing the game “MOVE” Let’s hope their new grove isn’t near the buzzpaths. They start to make nests and also new friends. All along, the sound was making everyone uneasy.	Chapter 22 The new friends have lots of questions. Where did they come from? Why are they here so suddenly? Jed steps up as the leader and tells the honest truth - the whole story - so that the others would understand and feel bad for them, and maybe allow them to stay. They did bring nuts at least! Let’s see if his honesty pays off.	Chapter 23 “Live for the moment, but bury a lot of nuts” 236 It seems like the new friends might be more welcoming in this chapter. They see what the humans have done and understand why Jed and his friends have come. Jed thinks about how Jip started all of this and how TsTs took such a risk to find him. It was something all right! Nuts to us all…
Endnotes Endnotes: a chat between a squirrel and a human Epilogues, acknowledgements, drawing tutorials, thinking like a squirrel, and some great discussion questions for your family.

00:00 / 08:04

00:00 / 08:14

00:00 / 01:35

00:00 / 08:20

00:00 / 01:16

00:00 / 15:24

00:00 / 03:05

00:00 / 06:59

00:00 / 04:04

00:00 / 07:21

00:00 / 01:51

00:00 / 04:50

00:00 / 04:15

00:00 / 03:18

00:00 / 09:00

00:00 / 04:52

00:00 / 04:01

00:00 / 09:50

00:00 / 06:50

00:00 / 10:33

00:00 / 04:53

00:00 / 11:10

00:00 / 02:14

***The blog is here to support your experience.***

Ultimately the FAMILY should be reading the text aloud together!

Author's note

A squirrel who likes sandwiches, especially chunky peanut butter, isn’t so surprising. But a squirrel who speaks English… to people, that’s Amazing! I wonder what this great adventure story will be about.

Chapter 1

Have you heard of the boy who cried wolf? This is the problem with Jip. He says things that aren’t true and then nobody believes him when there is real danger. Now his cousin is in trouble and who knows where he’ll end up!

Chapter 2

Just when you think things are really really bad, you might realize they could be worse. That’s what happens to Jed. He thinks he’s doomed, but then realizes that he’s ok, he just needs to escape the hawk’s talons. How will he do that? And will he survive the fall?

Chapter 4

The squirrels gather around to remember their friend and family member that was taken. They have no idea that he might still be alive somewhere. They assume that he was taken by a hawk and they’ll never see him again. Are they right?

Chapter 5

Chapter 3

Chapter 6

TsTs and Chai get distracted from their mission. All of this running has made them playful and now they’ve lost track of time. They decided it’s best to stay overnight and find a safe place to cuddle up. Too bad neither of them shouted out for Jed; they were SO close.

Chapter 7

Jed is having a tough night away from home. He can’t seem to catch much sleep without terrible dreams interrupting him. Hopefully he can rest so that he has energy for another big day tomorrow. Trying to find his way back home!

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Everyone was so busy running and scattering that nobody stopped to see where the noise was coming from. TsTs finally stopped and tried to figure it all out. She can’t quite figure out what the humans are doing. And now she can’t find her friends either.

Chapter 10

(split in 2 recordings) TsTs is brave enough to get close to the humans. What are they doing here? Are they going to destroy more of the grove? What about their homes further down the buzzpaths? They have to find Chai and get home right away to warn the others!

Chapter 11

When the limbs started falling, Chai must have taken off in a different direction than TsTs and Jed. Now he is all alone and just keeps getting further and further from where he last saw his friends. How will he ever find them now?

Chapter 12

Well luckily it sounds like the humans aren’t going to destroy the whole forest, just clearing a few trees near the buzzpaths. If only there was a way for the squirrels to understand the humans.

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

TsTs and Jed are busy looking for Chai, they aren’t the only ones looking for their friend though. Maybe some clues will help them find him. TsTs mentions that she made contact with the humans and they offered her food. But can they be trusted?

Chapter 15

Jed and TsTs find another squirrel in the confusion and she has seen Chai! Most of the forest creatures are going a bit wild trying to figure out what is going on, but the farther they are from the noise, the less afraid they are. The new friend joins Jed and TsTs, her name is Tchke.

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chai is somewhere else, but also looking to escape the weather and get somewhere cozy for the cold, wintery night. He finds a little crevice to hide in, but someone saw him enter and how it’s waiting outside for Chai to come out. Have you ever been between a rock and a hard place?

Chapter 18

The storm has passed and Chai woke up, but now the bobcat is asleep. Hmmm what should he do about this? Maybe he can sneak away from the bobcat now while he naps? If he doesn’t do it now, he may be hiding there for a LONNNNNNGGGG time.

Chapter 19

Finally Jed, TsTs, Chai and Tchke are all together. 4 squirrel brains are better than 3 and they finally have a plan. They are using what they know best about squirrels to help deliver their message. Squirrels love to play games! They develop a plan and now it’s time to play!

Chapter 20

Jed tells a quick story and keeps it very basic so there are no questions and they can get right to the game. Teams are formed “tails in” and Jed goes over the directions. Even though Chebby is suspicious that this isn’t really a game, she goes along with the plan.

Chapter 21

It wasn’t easy and took some trickery, but all of the squirrels moved from their grove to another one safely by playing the game “MOVE” Let’s hope their new grove isn’t near the buzzpaths. They start to make nests and also new friends. All along, the sound was making everyone uneasy.

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Endnotes

Endnotes: a chat between a squirrel and a human Epilogues, acknowledgements, drawing tutorials, thinking like a squirrel, and some great discussion questions for your family.

The blog is here to support your experience.