Written by Ellen Potter and illustrated by Sara Cristofori

Cordelia and Isaac receive a message via carrier pigeon from their friend, Fenton (a rat), asking for their help in Central Park Zoo. A mysterious creature is scaring the animals. This time, the sea lions saw the scary creature with glowing white eyes and the with pointy ears and a bushy tail. Cordelia offers to catch it. They meet Viola, the Central Park Zoo groundskeeper , and tell her all about it. She solves part of the mystery by telling them that the sea lions must have seen a coyote, the same one that has been spotted all around Central Park. She also shares that it is lonely, because it doesn’t have a pack. Cordelia and Isaac vow to help. They want to question other animals and decide to enlist Fenton’s help asking the dogs in Central Park if they know anything. After all, Fenton know s how to speak dog language. Princess Cha-Cha leads them to the coyote’s den after Fenton helps her dodge her owner by being chased by other dogs. They locate the coyote, named Ghost, and decide that the best way to help him find his pack is to take him to Viola. How to do that? Dress him up in Princess Cha-Cha’s spaghetti and meatball outfit and join a parade with dogs and baseball players. All goes well until the dogs realize that Ghost is a coyote and things get a dicey. Cordelia asks the dogs (through Fenton) to help Ghost find his pack – first, by protecting him from an approaching dog catcher. The dogs rally round Ghost and chase the dog catcher away and the parade resumes. Cordelia, Isaac, Fenton and Ghost finally make their way to Viola, who promises to help Ghost and plans to take him to a wildlife rehabilitation center where he can get the help he needs.

Cordelia, Isaac and Fenton end the day in the tree house in Central Park for a sleepover. Shakespeare, the squirrel, tucks them in and Cordelia thinks about her next adventures, knowing that wherever they take her, she’ll always come home to Central Park and the Squirrel that raised her.

This sweet story is the third in a series, Squirlish, about an intriguing young girl that lives in Central Park, knows squirrel language and helps her animal friends whenever they ask. This is a great book for younger readers that are moving into chapter books that are a little longer. Black and white illustrations are scattered throughout the story and chapters are short. Kids will love that Cordelia is not only a friend to animals, she can also speak to some of them! How cool is that? Add this to your library. It won’t stay on the shelves very long. Highly recommended.