Squirrel and John Muir

Squirrel is a little girl being raised in the American west with very few manners when a strange boarder, John Muir, comes to stay with them. He teaches her many things about nature,

This story is really a little snippet of the life of naturalist John Muir, and the impact he might have had on Floy Hutchings.

Content considerations: Squirrel is a little girl with some very bad manners, including watching guests undress from the other side of a sheet used to divide their rooms and saying "I hate you". I suggest using this as an opportunity to discuss manners and socially acceptable behavior.

This book is set back in the 1860’s and is meant to tell the story of a wandering, adventurer of a man named John Muir. Muir is free from the constraints and expectations of society and sets foot into the world to live a natural life and explore the beauties of nature and his own soul. He meets Floy, who he feeds his knowledge into for the short time that he is a handyman on her father’s property. Floy learns to appreciate nature and learns of the little things that make this beautiful world what it is. I enjoyed the story and the meaning behind it.

This book was interesting, though I tend to think of Squirrel as a wild child that probably could have used a bit more parental guidance than she was getting. John Muir does sound like quite the eccentric. No wonder some people had trouble taking him seriously. Brilliance and lunacy in a single package. Interesting.

Delightful historical fiction, made all the better by author's end notes

This story is based on true events of naturalist John Muir befriending six year old Floy Hutchings. Muir worked to protect the wilderness, and later helped establish Yosemite National Park. Floy was a tomboy who loved to explore the outdoors, but died at age seventeen from a fallen boulder.

Squirrel and John Muir was a cute story that told about John Muir's discovery of Yosemite. This tells the story of a young girl and a guy that works for her dad as they discover the wilderness. They climb trees, explore nature, and make some great discoveries.

I read this book a couple of years ago with my son; at least I think this is the book we read. The description matches my memory of the story, but I don't recognize the illustration on the cover. I can't find another book about John Muir and little Floy Hutchins, though, so this must be the one we read. Sweet.