They can barely spell their names yet, but they are already published authors. And the students of the Monroe Montessori Preschool have already sold one copy of their book.

That book, “Squirrel Goes to School,” is the fundraising brainchild of a Montessori parent, and is the story of a squirrel that sneaks into school one day, whereupon each of the children gives him a lesson in what they have learned.

“For the annual auction they come up with big projects,” said parent Bernadette Pajer, an aspiring author and parent of a Montessori preschooler. “I don’t know how to do anything but write. I did have the knowledge of how to draft a book, with a beginning, a middle and an end.”

So she came up with a premise; a squirrel wants to go to school. Then she asked the children of Mrs. Edelbrock's and Mrs. Dean’s morning preschool class what they would teach the squirrel. She then acted out the lesson with each child, employing a squirrel puppet to bring the exercise to life.

Each child chose a favorite activity, task or skill, and taught it to the squirrel puppet, with Pajer recording the conversation. Each child’s lesson appears on a page of the book, along with a picture of the child and the child’s signature.

Although every page is unique to the child that carried out the activity, Pajer managed to include a little mystery. At the end of each exercise, an item used during the exercise goes missing. At the end of the book, the small mystery is solved. And a second narrative emerges as Squirrel tries to save his tree from being cut down.

Also, the book is arranged according to season, and each child completed an illustration showing the tree in one of various seasonal stages, surrounded by snowflakes or covered with red leaves.

When the book was complete, Pajer set out to get one copy printed and professionally bound. The book turned out far more professional than she could have hoped, thanks to the expertise of another Montessori parent who is a graphic designer, she said.

“It wouldn’t be as gorgeous as it is without Tracy Campbell,” said Pajer. “She's a mom of a kid in another class and she donated her time.”

The book went to auction along with a mirror etched by local artist Joy Miller, who created a northwestern scene depicting a squirrel poised on a pine branch against a mountainous backdrop. As a bonus, Mrs. Dean would come to the winning family's home to read the book to the young student as a bedtime story. The auction package netted the school $650.

But the book may raise yet more funds; soon the book will be available for sale. As much as the project successfully enriched the school, it seems to have enriched the children more.

Wednesday, the children sat in a semicircle on the floor and described what they liked about writing their first book.

“I liked it because we chose a Douglas Squirrel because it goes with a Douglas fir tree,” said Rowan O’Roarty. “They live where we live.”

Squirrels cause trouble, but he likes them anyway, said Camron Rautenberg. "Squirrels ate the wires in my grandma’s car,” he said. “Because the car was in the squirrel’s playing spot.”

“I liked it when the squirrel took the dump truck,” said Max Naruszewicz.

Many other children chimed in, amused by the squirrel’s larcenous habits.

The project was a great success, teaching much to all who participated, said Pajer. "It was a pretty neat experience all around,” she said.

Mrs. Dean concurred. "For me, I think it’s the best project we've ever done,” she said.

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