Ever wonder what squirrels do when they’re not scurrying through yards and scampering up trees? Nancy Rose offered some creative insight in The Secret Life of Squirrels, which spotlights squirrel visitors to her backyard deck in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Published by Little, Brown/Tingley in 2014, the picture book features photographs of red squirrels in miniature sets Rose creates using cardboard, clay, craft supplies, and dollar store finds. Rose then snapped her rodent pals celebrating the holidays for 2015’s Merry Christmas, Squirrels!, and now captures them courting in The Secret Life of Squirrels: A Love Story, due out this month.

Rose, a retired teacher and high school guidance counselor, arrived at her children’s book career quite serendipitously. A passionate observer of nature and wildlife and an avid photographer, she became intrigued by the curiosity and boldness of the American Red squirrels that constantly raided the bird feeders in her backyard. “I began feeding them, too, and with a little patience, I was able to get squirrels to take peanuts from my hand,” she recalled. “I began to realize that they’d do pretty much anything for food. I took lots of photos, too, but there are only so many photos you can take of squirrels sitting on a deck railing, and it started to get boring. So I decided to beef it up a bit.”

A lifelong crafter, Rose discovered a way to make the squirrels work – or at least pose – for their peanuts. She created tiny props – a martini glass, a barbecue grill, a mailbox – and hid peanuts inside of them. She then photographed the hungry squirrels as they searched for the nuts, striking remarkably human-like poses. “They seemed to love the sets on my deck, and kept returning to find more peanuts,” said Rose. “And I began posting the photos on Flickr, and made a calendar featuring the squirrel pictures as a Christmas gift for my friends and family. Lots of people told me I should create a children’s book, but I initially resisted the idea, making up a string of excuses why I didn’t want to do that.”

Yet Rose relented after some of her squirrel photos went viral on the Internet and she was featured in a local newspaper. Her work caught the eye of agent Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists in Toronto. Kaiser sent a children’s book proposal to Susan Rich, a Little, Brown editor living in Canada. Rich in turn shared the project with Megan Tingley, executive v-p and publisher of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, who acquired the book straight away.

“The project spoke to me instantly,” Tingley recalled. “It had such an immediate, sunny, and unexpected quality that I knew kids would love. And I was also intrigued by the fact that the author was Nova Scotian, since my family is from Nova Scotia and I’ve spent a lot of time there. Nancy’s photos are so naturalistic because she has such a trusting relationship with the squirrels, and since they are so comfortable around her, she’s able to get some great close-up shots. In fact, when I first saw her photos, I thought they couldn’t possibly be real and must be Photoshopped.” Tingley saw for herself that that was not the case when she and her then seven-year-old daughter visited Rose’s home to meet the squirrels and see the photographer in action.

The Persuasive Power of Peanuts

Tingley believed from the start that Rose’s squirrels had a promising future as book protagonists. “Nancy’s concept and images were so bold and surprising, and had such humor, that I felt very confident publishing The Secret Life of Squirrels,” she recalled. That confidence was validated when Barnes & Noble and Target took the book right away, and independent bookstores, various catalogues, and Scholastic Clubs also supported it. Enthusiastic feedback from kids and teachers followed. “The book has inspired a lot of cool, creative classroom projects, which is a nice bonus,” Tingley said. “It is very gratifying that what started out as a fun project is also having that kind of impact.”

The success of The Secret Life of Squirrels spawned a sequel, Merry Christmas, Squirrels!; the two books, including a board book edition of the original title, currently have a total of close to 280,000 copies in print in the U.S. Rights to the books have been sold in Korea and Japan.

Yet the Christmas-themed title presented some new challenges for Rose when Mother Nature was initially uncooperative. “Nancy needed snow to create some of her settings, but there was no snow in Nova Scotia,” said Tingley. “It came down to quite a nail-biter, since we were on deadline. She kept emailing me, ‘No snow yet!’ but it finally snowed, and she was able to get the shots she needed. It made us realize that, although Nancy has control over the scenes she creates, she always has to rely on the elements, and of course the squirrels, to help her out.”

Little, Brown will capitalize on the theme of The Secret Life of Secrets: A Love Story with a Valentine’s Day-centered promotion that features pitches in parenting publications and on blogs and social media outreach.

Assuming the squirrels continue to share their hidden lives with Rose, additional revelations of their exploits may well follow, including a school-themed caper. For editor and author, the series has been a rewarding venture. “I love working with ‘surprise’ artists like Nancy,” said Tingley. “She is not a trained photographer or crafter, but she found something that she loved doing that involved responding to her natural environment. She is game to do anything, and has what I consider particularly Nova Scotian qualities: she’s connected with nature and has a dry sense of humor and a great can-do attitude.”

Rose affirms that she is certainly game to add to her oeuvre, and to supply squirrels with more peanuts to fuel their antics. “There are so many possibilities for other books,” she said. “I had no idea how many squirrel lovers there are out there – readers have offered me ideas, and even sent me their homemade props! And I especially love to see the feedback from teachers and kids who have used my books in school for nature projects, making props and taking photos themselves. I truly love that my photos of my little squirrels have inspired such creativity in others.”

The Secret Life of Squirrels: A Love Story by Nancy Rose. Little, Brown/Megan Tingley Books, $16.99 Dec. ISBN 978-0-316-27263-6