Featuring the illustrations of Canadian Kelly Collier, Sloth & Squirrel in a Pickle by Cathy Ballou Mealey is a hilarious tongue twister of a story.

When sloth and squirrel see bear and bunny on a bike, they decide that they need a bike too. Since bike cost a lot of money they decide to get jobs as pickle packers. Well you can imagine how well that goes! With a little ingenuity, they turn an unfortunate situation into a valuable business opportunity and can finally feel the wind in their fur.

Parents and teachers beware, there are many tongue twisters built into this funny story so you may want to practice reading a few times on your own so you don’t get tripped up. Children will laugh and laugh when they see and hear all about squirrel and sloth’s pickle packing prowess, or lack thereof, and may even ask you for a pickle pop for snack one day. Yum!

The illustrations by Kelly Collier are phenomenal! You may know her work from A Horse Called Steve and the illustrations in Sloth and Squirrel in a Pickle are equally as charming and dynamic. The beautiful colours leap off the page and who doesn’t LOVE pickle green!! Also, all of the animals are so, so funny! Big expressions on their faces engage the readers and add to the humour and fun of the story. Kelly Collier is one of our favourite illustrators.