Every counting adventure starts somewhere. In Burly the Squirrel: The Adventure Begins, children meet Burly, his little sister Kiki, and their parents in the bedtime story that leads into the Burly the Squirrel: The Counting Game series.
Burly would much rather spend the summer playing with his friends than gathering acorns for winter. He means to do his share, but there always seems to be another day. By autumn, his family has a winter supply tucked away, while his own basket is nearly empty. Worried that he's waited too long, Burly tells his parents what happened. With their encouragement and a little help from Kiki and his friends, he gets to work. Along the way, he learns that even when he's made a mistake, there's still something he can do to make it right.
Written by S.C. Burklund and illustrated by Ishani S., this picture book stands on its own as a bedtime read-aloud about family, friendship, and learning to ask for help. It also gives children a personal connection to the counting books that follow. Once they know why gathering acorns matters to Burly, they get to help him fill his basket themselves. In The Counting Game, children follow a number path, counting forward to reach each acorn and backward to bring it to Burly's basket. Across the series, they practice counting from 1 to 100 with the squirrel they've come to know.
