The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin

This is a story of squirrels—and an owl. Squirrel Nutkin and his family live on the shores of a lake, in which lies an island covered in nut-bushes. While his cousins bring gifts to propitiate Old Brown (the owl who lives on the island), Nutkin sings, dances, asks riddles, and generally makes an owl-pestering nuisance of himself. His antics (and their eventual result) come wonderfully alive in this book. On par with the best of Peter Rabbit.