"[Ciraolo's] deep empathy for those on the verge of a big transition--with all its excitement and anxiety--is unmistakable. At the last stop, the animals gaze out the bus window, contemplating their future with a mixture of apprehension and wonder, before disembarking toward their new lives. The journey has not only mattered--it has fortified them."
--Publishers Weekly

Nature is a capricious architect. One wonders what mood she was in, that time she invented chipmunks. Whatever temper inspired her, it was decided that, on completion of their seventh week, all chipmunks must leave their mother and set out on their own into the big unknown. ​
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But Nature's fickle moods change faster than the weather, and if pride won't ever let her go back on her decisions, conscience would always prompt her to make up for her shortcomings. ​
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And so it is that on that fateful birthday, Mino is given his mother's kiss, but not her tears, and, with a sparkle in his heart and a sunny disposition, he's put on a bus towards his future life and a new home, where he might plant his seeds and watch them grow.