Stikki the Squirrel: Tree Spirits follows Stikki, his mate Rella, their four kits, and a whole woodland of animals trying to survive a brutal winter while food runs out and foxes, hawks, and “longlegs” (humans) prowl around. In the middle of the snow and danger, a mysterious ancient ash tree wakes up, while in a nearby Welsh village a book-mad girl called Sophie gets ready for Christmas with her family. The story weaves between the cold, risky lives of the animals and the warm glow of Sophie’s cottage.

I really liked the way the writing feels cosy and old-fashioned, like a grandparent telling a long story by the fire. The language is simple but not babyish, with fun touches like calling humans “longlegs” and giving the animals big personalities. The woodland scenes are very vivid, all that deep snow and biting wind and creaking branches, and the chase with the foxes actually made me tense up. The tone swings between gentle and quite intense, so one moment you get cute kit chaos and the next you get a life-or-death scramble for a tree or a plunge into the freezing river. The black-and-white drawings scattered through the book match that feeling really nicely, with scratchy, lively lines that make Stikki look both adorable and a bit frazzled.

Underneath the talking animals, there is a strong “we are all connected” vibe, with the trees, the weather, the pigs who escaped a factory farm, the deer, the foxes, even the grumpy crow, all tangled into the same story of survival and kindness. I loved the reveal of the tree spirits as dragonfly-like beings who noticed Stikki’s bravery and his unselfish wish for food. The Sophie chapters add a different warmth: books stacked at the end of the bed, hot chocolate, a recovering aunt, and that Christmas feeling of everyone finally being in the same house again after a scare. It made the whole thing feel like two threads of hope, one human and one wild, running side by side.

I would recommend Stikki the Squirrel: Tree Spirits to kids who enjoy longer animal stories with a mix of danger and comfort, probably confident readers around eight to twelve or younger children as a read-aloud with an adult. It is also a sweet pick for anyone who loves winter tales, forest magic, and the kind of story that quietly nudges you to care about animals and trees while you are wrapped up in the adventure.

Pages: 175 | ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0GHZMQPC8