Zoom Squirrel wants to see what it is like to sleep under the stars, so the squirrel friends try to encourage him. What happens when all they do is keep him awake?
The author uses a slapstick type of humor to make reading fun. Like the Elephant and Piggie stories, children are able to enjoy simple text and experience dialog. The author also introduces the reader to small doses of non-fiction within the text. This book is recommended for fans of Elephant and Piggie who are ready for a little bit more of a challenging read ( )

A squirrel named Zoom has a dream to sleep under the stars but needs a little encouragement from his fellow squirrel friends. Unfortunately, while the friends are happy to oblige, their enthusiasm is just keeping Zoom awake.

This is a very entertaining and engrossing read. The "big story" about Zoom's desire to sleep under the stars had me chuckling aloud with the antics of the squirrels. After this part, the book continues with several other segments, including "acorn-y" jokes and facts about stars, squirrels, and sleep patterns. What a great way to get kids (and adults) to learn some new information. The book also tackles emotional learning with "emote-acorns," small illustrations of acorns with various facial expressions at the bottom of some pages during the "big story." There is a table of these at the front of the book labeling which emotion they represent. And, of course, being an early reader with relatively simple words during the "big story" makes this a good title for beginning readers. An adult can then help with reading aloud the backmatter chock-full of information. ( )

Willems tries to pump these squirrel books full of frantic energy, but I just find them dull. As my wife read this aloud, I literally started falling asleep and had to force myself to stay awake so I could count the book as completed. ( )