Every once in a while, a book is published that changes the way some people think. It provokes thought, provides hours of conversation among friends and colleagues, and most importantly, it becomes a beacon of hope that literary art hasn’t succumbed to a market monopolized by John Grisham and Danielle Steel.

As hopeful as one can be, “A Really Super Book About Squirrels” is not that book; however, it is a wonderfully humorous and original children’s story about loneliness and obsession.

A few contradictions come to mind after arriving at a conclusion such as this. One is that loneliness and obsession are not exactly typical thoughts for a children’s book, nor are there many ways to integrate humor into either subject.

Thus, more assumptions come from this: This idea, about a man and his desired friendship with a squirrel, is unconventional and can be taken a few different ways. Either author Graham Taylor and illustrator Graham Roumieu are crackpots with plenty of free time, or they are comedic geniuses with the ability to amuse both young and old.

“A Really Super Book About Squirrels” invokes all of these assumptions.

Taylor was apparently sitting in his kitchen one day when he noticed a squirrel outside his window. He had seen this same squirrel numerous times, thinking how nice it would be for the two to be friends. He began taking notes on this thought, which turned into “A Really Super Book About Squirrels.”

Taylor’s words may not provide the deepest of contemplations, though Roumieu’s sketchy illustrations match scribbled odes of the furry rodent to create comic gold.

From Graham to squirrel: “Why do you bury your food in the ground? Wouldn’t it get dirty? How do you know where to look when you get hungry? I keep my food in a cupboard … maybe you could keep your food in a cupboard. I’d help you get stuff off the top shelf.” This bit of simple poetic bliss is illustrated as Graham helpfully shows his new friend the cupboard in his kitchen.

A personal favorite moment is Taylor’s Haiku to the squirrel: “Scurry jump to branch With care watching over me Quick you’re gone squirrel.”

Though most of its meanings are hidden, the book provides comical insights about sharing, love and, of course, friendship.

The colors used in the illustrations, for example, provide the notion Taylor is only happy when with the squirrel. The illustrations put him in color when he is in deep thought or imagines himself with his buck-toothed friend, though he appears in black and white when the squirrel is away or lonely.

All of these ideas, shared by our narrator, are transformed into confusion and a slight glimmering of revulsion as he increasingly becomes more lonely, unsure of why he and the squirrel cannot be friends. While most children and adults alike may pass this off as a dark story, it seems as though Taylor hides heartfelt meanings behind his outrageous thoughts in a story about why oil and water do not mix.

This difference and duality between the two characters of the story becomes quite clear with the narrator’s last thought: “Then I realize how much I don’t know about you squirrel and how different we are.”

If strictly regarded as a children’s book, “A Really Super Book About Squirrels” doesn’t provide much for the little ones to enjoy.

Children may be able to gawk at the illustrations, but even these do not bestow much to be desired as far as the under-50 crowd is concerned. The content incorporates thoughts that are simply too complex.

This is an adult-oriented book disguised as a children’s story. Essentially, the looks provide laughs and the content provides a thought if one allows it, though it’s not a book I’d recommend for adults to buy their kids. It’s more like something I’d buy my Aunt Dorine for a bathroom read.

If analyzed to point, “A Really Super Book About Squirrels” conveys much more than it leads on. On the surface, this book is an inventive, wildly funny story heightened by Roumieu’s drawings.