Merle the High Flying Squirrel

With kuddos to Bill Peet...

On a recent day trip we spent some of our day stopping at a Veteran's Memorial with an AH-1S Huey Cobra helicopter on posts.  It was displayed very well in a park in the town of  Washington, Illinois. 

As we got out of our car and walked over to the display, I saw a squirrel peeking out of some kind of air intake below the rotor.  I said, "Look, it's Merle the Squirrel!"


As I spoke we saw 3 other squirrels on the  left stub-wing and then realized the 3 were babies... so the first squirrel must have been Mrs. Merle the Squirrel.

Bill Peet has been a favorite author of mine since my childhood, and then into our own children's lives.  Merle the High Flying Squirrel is one of our most favorite books of Mr. Peet's.  I highly recommend reading this charming picture book no matter what your age.

As we walked cautiously closer, all the squirrels continued what they were doing, although the mother was watching us and eventually came down to the stub-wing with the babies.

One of Merle's little babies.

Mrs. Merle comes down with the babies.


What a special day to remember.




My other favorite Bill Peet books are:  Huge Harold, The Caboose Who Got Loose, Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent, and Big Bad Bruce.  Each one is unique and wonderful.  I hope you are able to someday enjoy them yourself.