In our modern world we consider most animals, especially rodents, to be pests. They get in the way of what we are trying to do with what we like to think of as our piece of earth. We find them nestled in our Christmas decorations when we get them out once a year. They make holes in our yard or property. They eat more of the bird seed than the birds. They eat our carefully curated lettuce from the garden patch we meticulously manage. (Like that alliteration?)
The particular animals featured in these coloring pages are common visitors to most of our yards, parks, and playgrounds. In his book, The Burgess Animal Book for Children, Burgess describes 6 different members of the squirrel and chipmunk branch of the Sciuridae Family: the Red Squirrel, Gray Squirrel, Fox Squirrel, Flying Squirrel, Chipmunk, and Spermophile.
I can’t tell you how excited I was to move back to the US and see squirrels. I actually missed them when I was living in the desert. Introducing squirrels and chipmunks to our children through this book is a great way to teach them that they are more than “pests” and to remind ourselves of that fact as well.
These were a fun set of drawings to do last week. The hardest animal to draw was the chipmunk and the one I most enjoyed was the flying squirrel. There are 6 drawings here for Chapters 5 and 6, and you can find them here with the Chapter 1-12 listing in the shop.
Until next time, <3 Kate
