Review of "Floo Flocky Doo to the Rescue" by David Gillespie

Score: 94+/100 (9.4+ out of 10)

We had so much fun reading this children's book!

Floo Flocky Doo to the Rescue is a playful rhyming picture book about a little girl, Floo, who is guided by her hummingbird friend, Peanut, to a baby squirrel that has fallen from its nest. Floo rescues the squirrel, names him Lucky Lou, and cares for him as he grows.

Oh, and that's where the shenanigans begin!

When Floo and Mommy Doo go to the grocery store, Floo secretly brings Lou along, which leads to the book’s big comic set piece: Lou gets loose, leaps into Miss Nellie Faye’s hair, races through the store with her wig stuck to his tail, and ends up hiding among the fruit and jelly before Floo finally catches him and learns that maybe some adventures should stay at home.

It sounds so simple in concept even when the events of this scene are so chaotic and seemingly nonsensical. This isn't meant to be profound or to be taken super seriously. Yet, we appreciated and enjoyed what the author and illustrator were going for. Again, it's fun. It's warm. It's cozy. It's charming and endearing.

It hearkens back to many of our childhoods, rescuing stray animals and realizing that we bit off more than we could swallow. Pets can be a handful! They're often times among the first major responsibilities children experience in their lives (alongside cleaning their toys and caring for siblings). This is especially challenging when you pick up a baby animal who isn't typically domesticated, in this case a squirrel.

The characters—both human and animal—are likable and lovable. The fact that Floo has the heart and compassion to rescue and adopt a lost baby animal automatically makes her an outstanding human being and and likable/lovable character.

With that said, the two things that really made us love this book were the writing and illustrations.

Seriously, the writing is seamless! It has a tune and rhythm to it: like music!
It flows so well.

That's largely because the author sticks to using similar sounds and consistent meter. Again, it's like reading a sheet of music rather than plain ole' boring words! There's an aspect of this that reminded us of a Dr. Seuss book.

Then there are the charming, colorful illustrations by Ronnie Rooney. These really do the job!

First of all, we love the choice of colors. They're very pastel: soft blue, soft pink, and soft green. It reminded us of Easter (or at least Easter eggs)! Floo is presented as a cartoonishly cute little girl with pig tails and pink cheeks. She has the kind of instantly lovable storybook design that makes a character feel like a friend five seconds after you meet them. Peanut is also a great little sidekick. The hummingbird is tiny, nimble, expressive, and colorful. You know what ironic? We just read Endangered Hummingbirds by Anthony Lujan, which highlighted these incredible and beautiful creatures. That gave us an even greater appreciation for Peanut's inclusion here. By the way, we know that Peanut isn't the squirrel in the book, but the name was special because it reminded us of P-Nut, the rescue squirrel who sadly passed away in New York a couple of years ago.

Oh, and how can we forget the book's chaos engine: Lucky Lou.
Gosh, we love that name. We've all had friends and pets named Lucky, so there's something really familiar about it. It's also fitting because Lucky was lucky to have been found and rescued by our protagonists.

Now, you could argue (if you were going to be really anal) that they kinda upset nature and possibly prevented the baby squirrel from being recovered by his mother who was probably waiting to pick him up from a nearby tree (which is usually the case in nature). We've experienced this. We've seen it happen! Mama squirrels tend to pick up their babies after they fall out of the tree.

But: 1. Floo is a kid, didn't know any better, and meant well; 2. this is a work of fiction, so we can put reality and realism to the side for now.

We loved the illustrations with Lucky Lou. Our favorite is probably after he eats all the blueberry jam! Oh, that silly rascal squirrel.

Anyway, we found this book to be really enjoyable.
You can sit down with your kids and read it to them in only about 10 minutes.

Check it out on Amazon!