Animal Storytime for Kids: Adventures with Squirrel -

Join squirrel on his animal storytime adventures with a cat, four kittens, and a magpie. This kid-friendly story is both entertaining and educational.

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Once Upon an Animal Storytime

This adventurous story, perfect for animal storytime, was shared by Zina E. Crocheron in The Young Woman’s Journal Vol. 01, 1889-1890, 13, and has been reformatted for this blog post and video. I hope you enjoy this delightful story!

Squirrel Description

“I am going to tell you a story about some small animal. I wonder which kind you would best like to hear about. I think for a small animal, one that is pretty and also very cunning–squirrel will take the place this time.

The squirrel has a long body and its head is almost round with very small ears.

I suppose many of you have heard about squirrels cracking nuts. They crack them with their four front teeth–two above and two below, close together.

A squirrel has a long, bushy tail, which it curls up and spreads out over its back, serving it for a shelter, both for the heat in summer and the cold in winter.

A squirrel has five toes on each hind foot, and four on each fore foot.”

Lifestyle

“They built their nests in the trunks of hollow trees. They are made of moss and leaves and are very warm for their young ones. They will give long leaps from one tree to another, where the tree grows thick, and they will climb and chase each other in great sport.

When a squirrel is frightened, it will make a little sqeaking noise, and its sharp black eyes barely twinkle. They also leap to the top of a tree to be out of danger, for their only enemy is the Martin, and it is ever on the watch for a good meal.

It is said that the squirrel is the most nimble little creature in the whole world, for if it hears a sound, it will be at the treetop in but a moment.

Squirrels are wise, too, for they lay up stores of nuts, grain, and seeds for cold or rainy days and never touch them, except when no fresh food is to be found. They make their storehouses in the ground and live there in the winter.

A lady had a pet squirrel that would eat pie, cake, candy, fruits, and almost every kind of vegetable. The lady who had the squirrel taught him all kinds of little tricks, but before I go on any futher, I will tell you his name. His name was Dick.

His first trick was to learn to roll a ball and push it off again, roll over with it, and play many queer pranks. Of course, that is odd for a squirrel. You may ask how he learned to do even this, so I will tell you.”

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Topsy

“You see, you see, Dick’s mistress had a little kitten given to her one week before she bought Dick. She named the kitty Topsy. You all know how kittens love to play with a ball of yarn. Well, Topsy’s mistress gave her a ball of old yarn, and when she would play with it, Dick would watch. At last, he would play with Tospy. And when Topsy was gone, he would take the ball himself and play alone.

He was tames so soon that his mistress gave him leave to walk outside his cage once or twice a day. Dick soon found it fun to climb up into the windows where it was sunny. He would jump at the windows sometimes, thinking that he was going to alight on the trees outside. But alas, through the windowpane he could never get through.”

Surprise Discovery

“One day, his mistress was in an old shed just by the old house. She fancied she heard a little noise. She listened and after a short search found four little kittens. The mother however was not there. The next day she went there and found that they were still alone and they looked very hungary. She decided that some dog had killed the mother or that something had happened to her. So she, being a very kind lady, had pity on them and had them brought into the kitchen where it was warm and safe from dogs and othe enemies.

It was not an hour before Dick found the kittens. He lay down in the box with them and never hurt them in the least. As time passed on, they became fast friends, and play ball together, in their own way, and amuse themselves, racing with each other. They always wanted to sleep together and eat together.”

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Music

“At the slightest sound of music, Dick would jump and run to where it was, if he could find it. One day, his mistress was playing a lively tune on the piano and he heard it. He ran from one room to another, at last to the parlor, where he found his mistress playing. He ran around the room a few minutes, appearing to be quite pleased. And then he jumped onto the piano, remaining there until the music ceased.”

Magpie

“Dick had now another playmate, this time a bird. It was a magpie. Haven’t lots of you heard of magpies? They are birds that talk, are large, and have black and white bodies, with purple, blue, or green tail feathers, just as the light falls on them. It must have flown away from some family, for it would call the names of a family as Nellie, Johnny, and Jim. It just flew into the house and stayed there, not seeming to be afraid of anyone. That’s all they knew. If anyone spoke to it, it would only say, Mag, Mag.

It would fly into Dick’s cage and chatter with him, trying to make his acquaintance. It loved to stay with Dick all the time, but it was still attentive to those who cared for it and fed it. It would follow the men into the hay field when they went with their large racks to haul hay. Part of the time riding on the empty rack with men, always coming home with them.”