You may have seen a squirrel sitting on the ground eating a nut. What did it look like? Here is a poet’s description of just such a squirrel.
He wore a question mark for tail, An overcoat of gray,
He sat up straight to eat a nut. He liked to tease and play,
And if we ran around his tree, He went the other way.
Working with the Poem
1. Why does the poet say the squirrel “wore a question mark for tail”? Draw a squirrel, or find a picture of a squirrel sitting on the ground. How would you describe its tail?
2. Do we usually say that an animal ‘wears’ a tail? What do we say? (Think: Does an animal wear a coat? Consult a dictionary if you like, and find out how ‘wear’ is used in different ways.)
3. “He liked to tease and play”. Who is teasing whom? How
