cover image Erroll

Erroll

Hannah Shaw. Knopf, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-375-86105-5

Loopy illustrations and emphatic typography amplify the nuttiness of Shaw's (Sneaky Weasel) scattered story of a boy and a talking squirrel he finds in a snack pack of Nutti Nutts. Wide-eyed Bob "could only imagine how Errol had gotten inside the package of nuts in the first place." And he does just that in a Rube Goldsbergesque visual sequence that transports the squirrel from forest to grocery store (with plenty of tubes, gears, and conveyer belts in between). The frisky, peanut butter sandwich%E2%80%93loving critter creates mayhem in Bob's house%E2%80%94swinging from an overhead light, chomping on a table, and decorating a wall with footprints%E2%80%94as the boy's oblivious mother works in the garden. When she finally spies Erroll's handiwork, she announces that he must go back home, and mother and son return Erroll to the woods. Kids will enjoy the pandemonium, which Shaw's cartoons play up at every opportunity. But similarly to how squirrels leap from branch to branch and race around tree trunks for reasons opaque to human observers, the story jumps from scene to scene with little holding it all together. Ages 5-8. (Feb.)