Piet finds a home

K-Gr 1--A squirrel named Piet is in search of a comfortable tree to call home. Peter, the friendly local forester with tan skin and white hair, decides to help him out. Piet discovers that each tree in the forest has its own pros and cons depending on the season and hopes to find a home to rest in before winter sets in. This book mixes the lovable anthropomorphic squirrel and his human friend with quite a few real facts about the different trees that he comes across. Educators and families won't be surprised if the young fans of the book now feel emboldened to point out the changes in foliage. The specifics of every tree must come across in the book for this reason, and they do, thanks to the illustrations. They also perfectly match the seasons under discussion: a warm sun lights the summer, there are red colors in the autumn, and chilly blues at the first signs of winter. Young visual learners will especially benefit from these cues. VERDICT A cute but slight picture book that differentiates the seasons and amplifies the beauty of the larger natural world around us.--Anthony Murisco

A new nest offers Piet the squirrel some pleasant surprises. Piet confides to Peter, a pale-skinned forester, that his pine tree residence is uncomfortably "prickly," so the duo set off to find the perky red squirrel a new home. Though a beech tree looms intimidatingly, its soft leaves are tempting, and Piet hops onto a branch. Soon both he and readers learn how trees consume water and why their sap is sweet. Piet discovers how welcoming his new home is; the tree provides cooling shade in summer, and in fall, its leaves turn "a riot of color." The beechnuts Piet buries will feed him during the winter as he makes a nest in a hole in the trunk and sleeps--as the beech does too. By spring, he and the tree are firm friends, and the book closes with encouragement to readers to befriend the trees in their lives. Brief, unobtrusive text adds clearly elucidated information about trees and squirrels on every page, slightly expanded in an authors' note. Translated from German, this gentle account of Piet's forest year is low on tension or excitement, but its combination of narrative and science is appealing, boosted by Qiuqi's simple but accurate color drawings, shaded with crayonlike textures and brimming with visual surprises, from bunnies to birds to bugs. The next best thing to a forest walk--and might even inspire one.(Informational picture book. 3-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.