The Wee Squirrelees by Grace Drayton

cover for "The Wee Squirrelees" by Grace Drayton

 
   Make your very own picture book by Grace Drayton. Print, assemble and then color these pages using all of your favorite colors. The pages are large enough to print as regular 8 1/2 in by 11 inch coloring pages. But you could also make a mini book for little ones in your home, early education center or classroom.

Alter the margins in order to fit two images onto one page.

   To make a mini book simply open a Word Doc. and drag the pictures in order onto the pages. Make sure that you alter the margins in order to make the pages half size. You should be able to fit two images side by side on the horizontal page view. Print the six story pages side by side. Print the cover page above separately. Once you drag it into a Word Doc. Change the page set up to horizontal as well and move the image to the far right with your space bar or by altering the margins. Print this image first and fold the page in half. 

   Now fold your inside pages in half and hold them together in order. Slip these pages between the folded cover sheet and staple them all together on the edge. Take a stick of tacky glue and apply a bit of it between the blank pages so that the book reads without any blank pages. 

   You may also choose to crop some of the excess paper of the book using a paper cutter. I took off a couple of inches from the lower half of my sample book.

"Mr Stork is advertising three baby squirrels for sale," said Mr. Nutto Squirelee.
 Mrs. Squirrelee was doing the weekly washing, way up on one of the tiptest-top
 branches of the old apple tree, and Mr. Squirrelee was reading the 
Treesy Times aloud.

"Is that their picture?" asked Mrs. Squirrelee, peeping over his shoulder
 and straightening his collar with a squirrelly pat. "Oh, aren't they just beautiful?"
 and beautiful they were--the squirrels in the picture the Treesy Times had
 printed.

Mr. Squirrelee went to the grapevine telephone and ordered the babies
 delivered C. O. D. And late that afternoon a shadow darkened their own
 particular piece of sky. It belonged to the stork who had
 sent it on ahead to announce his coming.

Mr. and Mrs. Squirrelee could hardly wait to unwrap their squirrelly
 babies. And when they did, they were so delighted that they spent several
 hours a-hugging them and rubbing noses, which was just their way of kissing.

But after awhile the babies became cross and one of the cried so hard
 that he almost took the stiffening out of his whiskers. "Dear me!"
 said Mother Squirrelee. "Thy need a nap and they have no bed to take it in.
What shall we do?"

"I'll fix that," said Father, and he built a cuddly cradle, big enough
 to hold three squirrelly babies all at once. Then he went to work and
painted it a bright and shiny green--just like the leaves in the tiptop
of the old apple tree.

They hung the cradle where the wind could rock it gently back and forth.
 Mother Squirrelee tucked the babies in and hummed a squirrelly
 lullaby. And after the children had their nap, they were so happy
that even their whiskers turned up in a smile.

Father was so proud of them that he invited all the neighbors in;
 and Mrs. Squirrelee welcomed them, holding the triplets
 in her arms. And everyone said, "Oh!" and "Ah!" and agreed
 that there never had been such babies in the woods before.