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HomeCruiser_2025_07_Jul_Aug_Squeak

Adventurous Mouse Stars in Whitewater Kids' Book


Looking for an early start on indoctrinating the very little folks in your life with appreciation for whitewater? Get your little person of choice onto your lap and share "Squeak! Goes Whitewater Rafting," a colorful kids' picture book just out in June. 


The creation of author D. Scott Borden and illustrator Mallory Logan, Squeak is an adventurous mouse who, while hiking along a river apparently out West, mistakenly falls into a whitewater raft whose crew paddles it on down the river. The ensuing journey has Squeak encountering several animals along the shore and helping the rafters avoid a strainer through teamwork and attention to a river runner's checklist handily stowed in the raft. (Never leave home without one.)


Squeak

The 32 pages (8 x 10") are light on text and are dedicated mostly to vivid drawings of the Western landscape and its inhabitants. An interesting inclusion is a brief glossary that includes terms not commonly found in kids' books but highly relevant to paddling, such as "personal flotation device," "strainer," and "groover"!


The publisher, Mascot Kids, aims the book at ages 3 to 8, but younger would-be paddlers certainly will enjoy the pictures, even if the glossary is a bit over their heads.


A portion of the proceeds benefits American Whitewater, which sells the book on its website. It also is available from Amazon and from the publisher. If you like Squeak, be advised that in other books she goes climbing and backcountry skiing.

—Larry Lempert