L'ANNIVERSAIRE DE L'ÉCUREUIL
The Squirrel's Birthday
Written by Toon Tellegen
Albin Michel Jeunesse, France, 2002

The animals prepared their birthday gifts for the squirrel. They worked in silence, underwater or hidden in the bushes or high above the clouds, because they wanted to surprise him. The world crackled and shook but very quietly, so that the squirrel, who was sitting at his window in the darkness, thought that everything was very quiet, and that it was his heart that he heard beating wildly. “Are they really all going to come?” he wondered.

Nine stories that tell of the sweet moments shared by animals.