Those Darn Squirrels and the Cat Next Door

Those Darn Squirrels

by Adam Rubin, Daniel Salmieri (Illustrations)

All is calm in old man Fookwire's yard until new neighbors--Little Old Lady Hu and her cat, Muffins--move in next door. Muffins is one mean dude! He terrorizes the birds, interrupts Fookwire's painting, and ties the squirrels' tails together. Fookwire is upset, but not nearly as upset as the squirrels, who devise an ingenious plan to stop Muffins cold. In this hilarious follow-up to "Those Darn Squirrels!," the tongue-in-cheek text is perfectly complemented by the quirky, inventive illustrations.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Humor, Cats, Fiction, Storytime

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 2, 2011

About the author

Adam Rubin is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of ten critically-acclaimed picture books, including the Those Darn Squirrels trilogy, Dragons Love Tacos, Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel, Secret Pizza Party, Robo-Sauce and El Chupacabras (winner of the 2020 Texas Blue Bonnet award). In between writing projects, he designs and collects optical illusions, puzzles and games. His favorite color is blue, his favorite food is fried chicken, and his favorite animal is the otter. Adam currently lives in Brooklyn.

Reviews

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read to 5th graders

The second installment of "Those Darn Squirrels" had the fifth graders snickering! The writing is appealing to that age group and the illustrations are fantastic! The kids always love a book that mentions underwear! We talked about cats that the kids have at home that may or may not be jerks!

When Ms. Hu the town baker moves in across the stream from Mr. Fookwire she brings her cat Muffins with her so he can find some new friends to play with. Muffins wants to give wet willies and wedgies to the squirrels and the birds are afraid of such a big cat. The squirrels have a meeting and devise a plan to defeat Muffins!

Another entertaining story from Adam Rubin! We can't wait until next Tuesday when I read the final book in the trilogy to the kids!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Squirrel wedgies!! I mean, really, any book that discusses squirrel wedgies is going to be a hit with first graders. Since I have only reluctantly become fond of the cats that I happen to live with, I'm not at all sad that the bad guy cat is defeated by the clever squirrels and helpful birds.

I totally enjoyed Those Darn Squirrels! and while this second book is not quite as strong, these two books will certainly appeal to kids who like ridiculous and funny picture books.

And I want to know if the squirrels solved Old Man Fookwire's crossword puzzle accurately or not.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

SQUIRREL WEDGIES!!!!!!!

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This picture book has a great sense of humor! You know, I think my cat Finn would be friends with Muffins, honestly. I'll have to read more of this series.

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this sequel to Those Darn Squirrels!, a mean cat moves in next door and torments the squirrels. Until the squirrels develop a plan. Just as entertaining and funny as the previous Darn Squirrels book.

[KC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mean cat and squirrels.

[Stacia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one lost me when the cat gave the squirrels wedgies.... whaaaaaa?!

[Cris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those Darn Squirrels and The Cat Next Door

I don’t know what I expected but not this cute, funny book about working together to conquer evil. The only way this could have been better is if they all became friends, but that’s not realistic, so I think this IS even better!

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is laugh-aloud funny from the hilarious illustrations to the names - Mr. Fookwire, the floogle bird - to the situations - "the sneaky cat pounced on an unsuspecting group of squirrels and gave them all wedgies - not an easy thing to do because generally squirrels do not wear underpants." (Imagine the picture that goes with that line!) Mr. Fookwire is a crotchety old man who loves birds, but is continually confounded by those darn squirrels. The squirrels finish the old man's crossword puzzles and eat his pie. They are a nuisance! But then Muffins the cat moves in next door and Mr. Fookwire and the squirrels find themselves on the same side. Can those darn, but smart, squirrels find a way to foil Muffins and return the neighborhood to its former harmony? Not for the very young, as there is a lot of text, but a fun book for older youngsters, and some adults.

[Liana · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids asked me to read this book three times the day we brought it home from the library and I didn't mind at all. The illustrations of Old Man Fookwire made us laugh every time we turned the page. I highly recommend this book just to see what it looks like when a squirrel receives a wedgie. Very Funny.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if the rest of this book were no good (not true at all- very fun, like the first one), the illustration of the squirrels receiving wedgies from the cat would make it brilliant. Laughed. Out. Loud.

[Cosette]

This book includes terminology that I was hoping to not have to explain to my listener. Thankfully, she was not listening that closely... or maybe I've been reading picture books to myself with only the pretense of having a listener...

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes we have to team up and work together to solve problems, and sometimes we have to collaborate with those that we don't necessarily get along with or even like. Mr. Fookwire is a grumpy fellow that lives alone. He loves summer and hates winter because he likes to spend as much time with his backyard birds as possible. He feeds them, paints pictures of them, and enjoys watching them. The squirrels in is yard are a different story. Mr. Fookwire is completely annoyed by their antics. However, when Mrs. Hu and her mean cat, Muffins, move in next door, everyone is terrorized by the new animal. It takes some strategizing on the part of the squirrels to solve the problem, and that's when Mr. Fookwire realizes that when we live in community, everyone can come together to help out. This would be a good way to start a discussion with young readers about how we can help each other in our neighborhoods and communities.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Everyone in town loved her. But no one could stand her cat, Muffins. He was a real jerk."

Little Old Lady Hu moves in next door to Old Man Fookwire. And Muffins begins to bully. He even gives a group of squirrels a wedgie (which is "not an easy thing to do, because generally squirrels do not wear underpants.") So, the squirrels, those "champions of the forest", devise a plan to stop Muffins.

Hilarious!

[Leahna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, my granddaughter and I laughed and laughed. Some of what made me laugh hardest, Persephone didn't get and she laughed at things I didn't find nearly as funny as she did. This book, although definitely a kids' book, was written so that the adults reading it, as well as the child listening, would be entertained. Persephone is actually reading quite well now, so we took turns reading pages.

[Lynnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This team of author and illustrator is always so funny. They do such a great job of telling the story together. I was just not a huge fan of the story because it involves the cat giving wedgies to the squirrels. It's also a lot more words on the page so my toddler had a hard time sitting through it. Still good quality and clever. I just was not a huge fan.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sequel nearly as good as the first installment of the series! A kind woman and her not very friendly cat money next door, and Old Man Fookwire avoids them. The pictures of the squirrels and their facial expressions when the cat is touring them are hilarious. I loved the picture of the wet cat, too!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pictures in this book are hilarious!!! That cat looks like the biggest jerk, and it seems like he takes pride in being quite mean. He gets his "tail tied" in the end. The only problem that I have with the book was that it was a little too wordy. This is a funny little story.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grumpy old man Fookwire's new neighbor, little old lady Hu, moves in next door with her cat muffins, who is a real jerk. After bulling the squirrels and terrorizing Fookwire's birds, the squirrels develop a plan to teach muffin a much needed lesson.

[DeA · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is cute but is a bit wordy for most young children. However, if you have a young reader who wants something to bridge the gap between picture books and juvenile fiction, this book would might be a good pick. Recommend for children around grade 2.

[The Campbell Family · Rating 3 out of 5]

We picked this up as we love Dragons Love Tacos. However, this just didn't hit the same note for us. Not as fun as DLT. I see that this is apparently a sequel/companion book, perhaps we need to read the original "Those Darn Squirrels" first.

[skcocnaH · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s interesting to me how different people’s tastes can be. My husband gave this book 5 stars in large part due to the illustrations. I found the illustrations on the border between distracting and disturbing.
The book ended and I felt unsatisfied.

[Saqqa Alamdar · Rating 5 out of 5]

امشب این کتاب رو با پسر ۵.۵ ساله و دختر ۴ ساله م خوندیم و حساابی خندیدیم سه تایی 🤣 خیلی بامزه بودو هم نقاشی ها هم داستان. کتاب رو از کتابخانه پارک شهر گرفتیم.
این کتاب توی فیدی پلاس هم هست. البته حیف که به صورت پی دی اف نیست و عکس و متن رو جدا گذاشته که باعث کاهش کیفیت کتاب کودک شده.

[Heaether · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious!

[Ham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this story, but my favorite part were the hilarious illustrations. I was excited to see it's part of a series.

[Patsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best children's book series I have ever read

[Noah Durell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as "Dragons Love Tacos" but still entertaining.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite children's serires due to the sheer silliness. The man's name is funny, the antics of the animals is funny. It's a humorous book.

[Danielle Mootz · Rating 5 out of 5]

We cannot get enough of Old Man Fookwire and these silly squirrels. We crack up everytime he starts waving his fists in the air and yell with him in unison.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new neighbor and her cat have moved into the neighborhood. How will Mr. Fookwire and the squirels react. preschool and upf or length. cute entry in the series