Those Darn Squirrels!

I used this book to teach a design workshop for children (ages 6-9) as a jumping off point for them to design and prototype a way to protect a garden from being disrupted by squirrels. If you're leading any design-oriented classes for children in this age group I highly recommend this book.

S-P-O-I-L-E-R A-L-E-R-T!!!
The story has a nice twist—the squirrels, who were initially viewed as a nuisance, redeem themselves after designing their way into Mr. Fookwire's admiration. This happens through a series of design challenges where the squirrels have to figure how to out-smart Mr. Fookwire's way of preventing them from accessing the birdfeeders.

While the story itself is pretty unimaginative, the illustrations of the design challenges between Mr. Fookwire and the squirrels are a perfect way of introducing design methodology to children. The story also instills the significance of trial-and-error and experimentation in the creative process. It's a great setup for framing failure as a key to learning, growth, and accessing new ideas.