Stories from Squirrel Valley: Ozzy and Chirp

A colourful and quirky graphic novel, Stories from Squirrel Valley introduces small readers to Ozzy, a curious squirrel, who is adopted by a cautious snail. A scatter-brained flamingo delivers baby Ozzy by accident, and Snail does his best to raise him as a decent squirrel. But Ozzy has some difficulties accepting this, wondering where he truly belongs.

After finding an abandoned egg, Ozzy makes his way through Squirrel Valley to find its home, while meeting peculiar animals on the way. He goes on an adventure full of surprises in the rainbowy Squirrel Valley, stumbling upon animals who are each one weirder than the last. The resilient Ozzy keeps going until he finds a place for the egg. Along the way, the reader also sees many pieces of valuable life advice from the supportive snail. When the egg finally hatches, Ozzy meets Chirp, and decides to adopt the little bird until it is grown.

This is a delightful read with many meaningful questions of who you are and what you want to be, including ignoring all advice by carers and even a philosophical dilemma of whether a wolf should become a vegetarian. This story of Ozzy the Squirrel also becomes a story of coming to accept who you are and the value of helping someone else.

“Be kind to the small, the big, and to the medium-sized. Every one of us is important.”

– Snail to Ozzy the Squirrel