I picked this up because I just can't resist books about squirrels :-) Erik DeLeo starts out with a dedication to Brian Jacques, whose Redwall books were a household favorite growing up, and I think this is the perfect gateway book to those! Squirrel Squire captured much of the same charm, with the small-but-mighty Puff up against the toughest challenge in the squirrel world. It had great world building, cross-species friendships, epic character growth, but in a much shorter and easier to digest format. It did have a bit of violence (even I wasn't expecting some of it based on the mid-grade reading level!) so beware for the more sensitive young readers, but many will find it fantastic and a wonderful gateway to the bigger and heftier of the animal fantasy series!

This book is wonderful. It's a fascinating and adorable fantasy story with a great cast of characters for kids to enjoy. I loved it's cute story, the charming quirks, and it's interesting plot and think it's a great place to start for readers interested in fantasy.

This was a cute little story! I think 3-5th graders would enjoy it! A little bit of everything - knights, sword fights, adventure, interesting characters- to entice children to want to read the story. What's more entertaining than talking animals behaving like humans? I liked this story! I suppose it could have been made even better with the addition of a few illustration?!

I loved The Squirrel Squire and the Tournament of Oaks! A great read for little boys that teaches all about bravery and believing in yourself! Erik DeLeo does a great job fleshing out these little animals and making you genuinely care about them in a short space of time. I loved watching Puff grow into himself. Great story!

I don't read a lot of mid grade, but I could not resist this title and the ridiculously adorable cover art.

This was a quick read and suitable for younger readers. Cuteness abounds, but there are a few moments of tragedy and violence that may upset sensitive readers.

Also, I was a little confused by the timeline/continuity, there was a confusion as to how many days passed.

All in all a cute little read.

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley.com and Dark Cat Publishing. Thanks to both for the opportunity to read and review.

Mr. DeLeo has written an adventure tale that will delight and entertain readers young and old. Puff is a small squirrel with a big heart, good friends and a lot of courage. He rises to the challenge put before him and will have you cheering for him in the end.

Perfect for fans of Brian Jacques' 'Redwall". 5 out 5 stars. Highly recommended.

This is a cute, but short middle grade read about Puff the squirrel. Puff is the squire to Sir Pattercloud, the noble Knight Captain of Clan Grey. All of the squirrels are getting ready for the Tournament of Oaks, which decides who the ruling clan will be for the next year. However, just as the tournament is about to start, Sir Pattercloud goes missing. Puff must figure out what happened to his knight and deal with loss and treachery. Overall, for a short book it does a pretty good job of developing its characters and its setting. It would be perfect for a middle grade reader, but not strong enough for a teenager. If I had children I would read it to them and I would recommend it to anyone who has children or are fans of Redwall or even the Mouse Guard RPG.

I would like to thank Dark Cat Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

"The Squirrel Squire: and the Tournament of Oaks" introduces readers to the young and enthusiastic squirrel, Puff, squire to Sir Pattercloud. Puff is determined to follow in the knight's footsteps, but tensions between the squirrel clans soon make it clear that Puff's quest is far grander and more dangerous than he believed. Joining forces with his closest friends, Tinderbug and Nibbles, Puff embarks on a mission to save all the squirrel clans from the evil Clan Black. Featuring an unlikely young hero facing impossible odds, "The Squirrel Squire" is a story full of adventure and heart that shows the powerful good that comes when someone who is seemingly too small is brave enough to do what's right.There is no doubt that DeLeo has crafted a charming tale that will be in good company alongside all your childhood favorites.

Cute.

This is a Children's Fantasy and so going into it I wasn't expecting highly thrilling adventure, or extremely amazing details of which I find in my normal level of reading. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was entertaining and sweet. The description was better than I was expecting and the characters were real to a certain level of understanding. As I said, it was cute and perfect for those just under 10.

The detail and vocabulary use was larger than what I would expect those under 12 to have, so I can tell the author loves writing, but hasn't yet mastered turning it completely into a children's level. I enjoyed the storyline though, and appreciated the moral he hid inside.

Puff ~ Although struggles with believing in himself, learns through mistakes and pain that he is more than he first thought. I love the slow but steady character progression and the realistic way they appeared, although an animal.

As a side note I loved being able to reenter the animal kingdom through his perspective, rather than Brian Jacques. It was unique, and intriguing. I also appreciate how he dedicated his book to those who had inspired him to write this. It was sweet and heartwarming.

All in all it was a cute book of which I only had a couple problems... the main one being it wasn't my normal level and therefore the knock off of one star. The other two being the use of to many large words ( of which children cannot understand ) and the cringyness in certain areas.

The Squirrel squire was a cute read. I recommend a middle school age child to readthis story. There are a couple different areas that have mild violence. But to out way that is the message that the squire learns and that we can teach our children.

#Netgalley

This book is very cute in all respects. It's about a little squirrel named Puff who's squire to his clan's Knight Captain, Sir Pattercloud. As an underling, Puff is unassuming and lacks confidence. There are cute, prophetic bears and a quirky, old acorn-divining squirrel named Blabberbit. There's tragedy, deception, and, after Puff pulls through in the end because his friends believe in him, redemption. What more could you ask for?

I would have loved this book as a kid. I want to read the second (and more!) in the series.

The Squirrel Squire and the Tournament of Oaks is a children’s fiction book. It is book one in the A Fantastic Tails Adventure series written by Erik DeLeo.
Summary: Puff is a small squirrel. He doesn’t feel brave, important, or worthy-even though he is a squire for the infamous Sir Pattercloud.
Puff is always running late, and is constantly distracted with his thoughts about acorns.
How will he ever be good enough to take Sir Pattercloud’s place one day in the annual Tournament of Oaks?
But soon, Puff will have to face the most difficult challenge of his life.
Will he be brave enough to face the danger, and will he realize that maybe he is good enough after all?
My Thoughts: This story is filled with talking animals, sword-fights, and danger. It was a fun read. Short, but fun. I think kids that enjoy fantasy/animal stories will enjoy this one. I liked the underlining message about self-confidence as well.
I would like to thank Dark Cat Publishing for providing me with a free digital copy of this book for my review.

Don't be fooled by the talking animals and adorable squirrel on the cover, this is a very serious and somewhat dark story. Puff is a great hero for young children, especially for those who feel like they are big enough, smart enough, or good enough to take on the challenges in their lives. His sidekicks Nibs and Tinderbug are the kind of friends you want all children to have - loyal, kind, and supportive when he needs them the most. Based on the title and cover I was expecting a cute, fun story about a small squirrel stepping up when there was trouble, I was very surprised when the events took a darker and violent turn. I believe the hardest marketing problem this book wil have has to do with the target audience - they have to be old enough to not be scared by the violent deaths of some of the characters, but young enough to still want to read stories with talking animals. I would recommend this book for children who are in 3rd through 6th grade, but caution introducing it to children who have ever been the victims of violent crime.

This was a cute little middle-grade novella about a squirrel named Puff. Puff is the squire of Sir Pattercloud, the chief knight of the Grey squirrel clan, the clan which has, for many many years in a row, won the Tournament of Oaks.

The tournament is a tradition among the three clans of the park, the Grey, Brown, and Black squirrels, and this year, the leader of the suspicious Black clan of squirrels has come to fight, and he fights pretty dirty. At the same time, Sir Pattercloud has gone missing, and it's up to Puff to find him and save the day!

So, this was a really short read, and to be honest it was a nice little break between much bigger and much darker books. It was light, often uplifting, sometimes a little emotional, and overall easy to read. This was a good story about how being little doesn't mean you aren't strong or brave.

So, much like I recommend the occasional How to Train Your Dragon book, I'd recommend this one to people of any age who like the occasional uplifting romp through the park between bigger books.

Thanks to the author, as well as Xpresso Book Tours via NetGalley for the review copy. :)

DeLeo's book is very cute and joins books like Redwall and The Warriors that create whole worlds around animals. This book has intrigue, humor, and great advice. This would be a great introduction for younger readers.

A Squirrelsome tale

"Tournament of Oaks" is a prestigious event where in 3 squirrel clans battle it out against each other. The victorious one would get to rule the park for the next set of seasons.

Puff, our hero in this story, is a small squirrel hailing from the Clan Gray. Apart from its usual affair of scurrying around in search of tasty nuts and acorns, Puff had an important métier - Squire of the Knight: Sir Pattercloud, who has won more championships than any other clan in the tournament's history. Puff has two compatriots, Tinderberg of Clan Brown and Nibbles who is a Chipmunk with whom Puff hangs out whenever his services aren't required by Sir Pattercloud.

And then, there is the Clan Black. With its vile leader, Scratchclaw, clan black is that group you don't wanna mess with. With nefarious squirrels always plotting wicked schemes, clan black was indeed a force which was dreaded by the other clans.

Even though history favored Sir Pattercloud, this time, it was going to be a whole different game. Because stepping up to the battleground from the clan Black was none other than their leader Scratchclaw. No one has ever seen him fight and that surprise element alone was enough to cause unrest among the members of clan gray and brown. If that wasn't bad enough, just before the day of the final battle, Sir Pattercloud goes missing.

Puff, along with his friends find themselves in a race against time to find the missing Knight, failure of which would allow Scratchclaw to be selected as the champion unanimously.

Will Puff be able to find the Knight before its too late? Or will Puff step up and fight for the glory of Clan Gray??

What some authors fail to do in a full-fledged novel, Erik DeLeo has managed to establish the characters, the setting, and weave a neat plot with twists in such a short novella.

Big Applause for that. It left me wanting for more.

I wish Erik writes more novellas about the adventures of Puff along with his partners in crime, Tinderberg and Nibbles.

This is such a good book! This book teaches a very valuable lesson to kids: Never give up and face your fear. I really enjoyed reading this book. Grab this book and read all about the little squirrel named Puff. Thank you Dark Cat Publishing via NetGalley for the free copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

This was such a fun read that was slightly reminiscent of the Redwall books. One thing I appreciated is that, even though it's directed at younger readers (I'd call this a Children's book, pre-MiddleGrade), it doesn't talk down to its audience. For example, there are hints about where exactly the park is located, as well as hints about the mysterious fourth clan of squirrels. They are never really directly stated; it's up to the reader to put the pieces together.

The plot is fast-paced, and it features important lessons such as believing in yourself and not letting fear or size bring you down. The characters were alright if a little one-dimensional, aside from the MC, Puff. I think the novel's biggest flaw, though, is that it relies on the bad=ugly trope. The black squirrel champion is described as having piecemeal armor, allegedly provided by rats; he's also incredibly lanky and has mange and matted fur. I think this stereotype of "bad people are ugly people" isn't good for younger readers.

Ultimately, this book was fun, albeit nothing that truly amazed me. Regardless, I'm happy to have read it.

A charming novella about Squire Puff, a squirrel on his way of becoming a knight. Sort of. A champion is missing. If Puff won’t find him, he’ll have to take his place.

A satisfying middle-story for suitable for children. I liked it even though it was rather predictable.

Recommended as a palate cleanser for adult readers looking for an upbeat and uplifting adventure and as a great book for younger audiences.