Three Little Beavers by Jean Heilprin Diehl, Illustrated by Cathy Morrison
These siblings, who live with their parents in the lodge on Beaver Creek, work a great deal. Bevan is an expert – he is what you would call a ‘master’ beaver. He can twist and alter those twigs and mud into perfection every single time. His sister, Beverly, is amazing, too. She can do underwater somersaults and all kinds of fancy tricks. These are two beavers who will grow up to be masters at their craft.
Unfortunately, Beatrix just can’t seem to get the hang of anything. Her mud patches fall apart, she’s not all that good with building, swimming, and, frankly, she’s tired of being around siblings who are better than she is. Sometimes it’s difficult to know what it is that we’re good at; after all, we all have a special skill, but Beatrix just cant find hers. So, off she goes.
Oh what a lovely start to a story! We all need a copy of three little beavers right away! The author is apparently from New Hampshire (not the friendliest beaver state in the nation) so its surprising that when the search for her talent gets Beatrix caught in a trap it happens to be a live trap from folks who never wanted to hurt beavers in the first place!
Not a scary trap, mind you, it’s a trap set by kind people who are just trying to make sure that beavers don’t rip apart their lawn, but they would never hurt an animal. Unfortunately, Beatrix can’t get out of the trap and when her ‘superstar’ siblings come along to save her – they get trapped, too. Who has to save the day? Beatrix, and all of a sudden she knows exactly what she’s good at.
Yeah Beatrix! Well….not really sure what kind of ‘trap’ keeps beavers off your lawn or come to think of it why a beaver would want to bother your lawn anyway…BUT still…great ending and nice moral to the story. The Seattle Pi review makes it sound like a delightful read and I can’t wait to get mine, but I confess to feeling a little apprehensive about this;
And the ‘fun’ extras in the back of the book teach everything from beaver facts to building dams with your hands!
Okay, but if it says they live in the dam and eat fish I’m going to demand a retraction!
Oh and a followup from Wednesday’s post about the Beaver Count in Idaho. I wrote the event organizer Mike Settell and he wrote back, delighted to find fellow beaver friends! He will guest blog about his work in Blaire County soon, but he gave permission for sharing this email:
Thank you so much for the note! I know that I’m not working in a vacuum, but when I see work like Martinez Beavers, well, I just well up.
Right now, I am in the midst of an event, not a festival, but HEY what an idea. Someone wanted to have a conference, but a festival sounds so much more fun. Can we borrow your ideas? Can we pirate your beaver tales and educational materials?
Please keep up YOUR good work and stay in touch.
Happy beavering!
Mr. Settell says that outside his county beaver policies are a little less informed. He says his work can be frustrating because of all the bureaucracy!
