Award-winning author/ illustrator Emily Gravett explores the fun of being friends but different in this light-hearted and playful picture book. Sad Cyril the squirrel is all alone in the park until he finds a meets Pat. Together Cyril and Pat have a great time playing all kinds of games and making sure each other is safe – especially from the fierce dog Slim. Does it matter that they are different? Everyone else thinks so but Cyril and Pat know that they can be the best of friends come what may. Readers will love knowing the joke, and the point, before Cyril and Pat get it!
Cyril is the only squirrel in Lake Park, and he's very lonely. Until one day he meets Pat - Pat the big, grey . . . other squirrel. Cyril and Pat have lots of adventures and fun together and Cyril is so pleased he's made a friend. But everyone says that Cyril and Pat simply cannot be friends, and they soon reveal why: Pat, as the reader has known all along, is actually a RAT! But Cyril's life turns out to be a lot duller and quite a bit scarier without Pat by his side, and in the end the two friends learn that some things are more important than being the same, or listening to others.
A colourful, rhyming story about friendship against the odds. Funny and endearing, Cyril's experience celebrates independent thought and the joy of difference. - BookTrust's 2018 Great Books Guide
With just a few sentences on each page, the colourful pictures add to the story, making it perfect for readers and great to share - Primary Times
Filled with the anarchic energy of these defiant buddies cutting capers, it's enormous fun to read aloud, and a paean to loyal friendship in the teeth of opposition - Guardian
Have your hearts melted by the touching duo and learn that friendship is truly worth fighting for in this funny yet tender story. - Ni4Kids
This comic, summery picturebook invitingly depicts an urban park and is the rhyming story of a friendship between Cyril, a squirrel, and Pat, a... something else. It shows how difference doesn't matter and will make readers feel one step ahead. - Sunday Times
Author
About Emily Gravett
Emily Gravett has a rare talent indeed for creating exceptional books for children.
The winner of two CILIP Kate Greenaway Medals, her skill and wit are second to none. Emily first sprang into the limelight with the ground-breaking Wolves in 2005, which has been followed by such modern classics as Meerkat Mail, Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears, Monkey and Me and Again! and the fabulous Bear and Hare series for younger readers, as well as the beautiful Tidy, Old Hat, Cyril and Pat and Meerkat Christmas.
Each book is unique and different from the last – and each features endearing, beautifully drawn characters that touch the heart and tickle the funny bone.
Emily lives in Brighton with her family.
Julia Eccleshare, the editorial expert on Lovereading4kids says, Prize-winning illustrator Emily Gravett’s distinctive illustrations are always full of wit bringing the unexpected into stories and injecting them all with delightful humour. There’s magic in Spells as a frog turns himself into a handsome prince – well, almost!, excellent advice for rabbits on how to spot the danger of wolves in Wolves, lots of useful tips on how to be braver than you feel in Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears, a thoughtful exploration of how home often turns out to be best despite feelings of wanderlust in Meerkat Mail, a celebration of exuberant movement in Monkey and Me and a fresh and delightful look at Dogs.
