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Reviewed by Robert A. Groves for Readers' Favorite
Tommy the Squirrel Wants to be Human by Karen L. West is about a young squirrel at Cypress Lake who decides he wants to be human. Tommy watches campers arrive each summer. A family from Indiana convinces him that human life with cars, bicycles, and food looks better than his own. He spends days imitating them. He studies the skills he would need to become a human. He follows the campers from tree to tree and on their bike rides. He watches from morning to night, sure that in a few days he will know everything about being a human. Two animals interrupt his daydreaming. A bird reminds him what he is. A tied-up family dog tells him what a human life costs. It is not free. Tommy weighs what he would have to give up. He decides his family, the park, the trees, and his friends are too valuable to trade for a human existence.
Tommy the Squirrel Wants to be Human emphasizes one important point: being who you are is more valuable than being something you want to be. Karen L. West carries that point through contrast. Tommy starts by seeing only what humans have. But another animal tells him what humans lack. The contrast is not that human life is bad. But Tommy already has the thing the dog most wants – freedom to run, play, and go where he likes. I especially liked that the author included a section in which Tommy considers his options and mentally compiles a pro-and-con list for choosing to be human. He doesn’t just abandon his dream. He reasons his way out of it, step by step, and accepts where that reasoning leads him. The illustrations are visually appealing and enhance the words. Wondering if the grass is greener on the other side is a thought almost all of us have at some time in our lives. Ms. West has taken that thought and explored it through a simple yet heartwarming story. Well done!
