An enterprising rat discovers the joy of being true to himself At the park, people give squirrels free peanuts. And nobody screams when a squirrel crosses their path. But for Rat, it's all screams and no nuts . until he comes up with a plan: be more like a squirrel--squirrel-ish! When his attempts at adopting a squirrel-ish posture and pinning his ears down don't make a difference, Rat considers his tail. And after a few crafty but failed squirrel-ish tail prototypes made from cotton balls, feathers, and spaghetti, he lands on a winning material: straw from a broom! Finally, Rat can walk through the park without getting shooed. Free peanut in hand, he daydreams about building a re-tail empire . until the dogs in the park spot him and give chase. All of a sudden, Rat understands why squirrels do so much scampering! Maybe his rat tail isn't so bad after all .

Brightly illustrated and packed with hilarious details and hidden gags, this laugh-out-loud ode to self-love reminds readers that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.