About
About The Squirrel Bus and Acorn Grove
The Squirrel Bus is a world of stories, songs, and familiar friends created for children and the grown-ups who share the ride. Here, kindness leads the way, curiosity is always welcome, and every adventure leaves room for laughter, belonging, and hope.
Why we're here
A Place Where Every Rider Belongs
At Acorn Grove, children do not have to be the loudest, fastest, or bravest to matter. Every friend brings something different aboard, and the best adventures happen when everyone has a seat.
The Squirrel Bus invites children to laugh, wonder, ask questions, help one another, and discover what can happen when friends travel together.
The heart of Acorn Grove
What Makes This World Feel Like Home
Kindness Leads the Way
Friends listen, help, and make room for one another.
Curiosity Opens Doors
Questions and discoveries can turn an ordinary day into an adventure.
Laughter Brings Us Together
The crew shares playful moments and kind humor without making anyone else the joke.
Hope Brings Us Home
Even when the road gets bumpy, every adventure returns to a reassuring place.
Around Acorn Grove
A Familiar Place With More to Discover
The Squirrel Bus travels through Acorn Grove, carrying friends toward school, new discoveries, and whatever adventure is waiting around the next bend. Some places will become familiar with every ride, while others are still waiting to be explored.
What a ride feels like
Familiar Friends, Gentle Surprises, and Plenty of Heart
A Squirrel Bus adventure welcomes children back to friends they know, opens the door to something new, and finds its way to a hopeful place. Along the way, there is room to wonder, laugh, listen, help, and grow together.
Familiar Faces
Children can return to friends they know, enjoy, and look forward to seeing again.
Something to Discover
Every ride brings a new question, joyful surprise, or small challenge to explore.
Together Again
The crew listens, helps one another, and finds its way forward together.
The road ahead
More Adventures Are Waiting
The Squirrel Bus world will continue to grow through new stories, songs, activities, and ways for families to ride along. Each new stop will be shared when it is ready.
Meet the Creators
Two Lifelong Friends and One Very Important Word
Dave Scott and Julie Runyan Hardy have been friends for more than 40 years. Whenever one of their conversations was about to take an unexpected turn, one of them would simply say, “Squirrel.” That familiar signal eventually became the Squirrel Bus, a welcoming world shaped by friendship, teaching, American Sign Language (ASL), music, storytelling, curiosity, and wonderfully unexpected ideas.