The Delicious Shadow is a children’s picture book featuring an indecisive squirrel called Stickle who lives in the forest with her family. Her dreams for the future are to become famous, however, her parents think she should think of a different career and so she tries out for a short time different ones that her relatives have such as baker, mechanic, doctor, without much success.

I have mixed feelings about the book. It is sweet, fun, and I can see children loving Stickle the Squirrel and enjoy watching her try out different careers and realising that they are not for her. It is bright and colourful with full-page illustrations and is easy to read.

However, the book then takes a strange turn as she works out that when the fruit falls from the trees and is in the shadow it is juicier than if it lands in the sun. This to me felt like a complete deviation from the plot of the book and out of place. I understand the author was trying to show that Stickle made a discovery all on her own without following in the footsteps of others but it just felt strange. I also didn’t feel like the moral of the story came across well enough to be interpreted by a child.

Overall, if you are after a book to keep a young child entertained for a short while, one they can follow easily via the images and short text then this would be a good start.