Eager Beaver is a happy-go-lucky beaver who is always eager to help others. "I can do it; I can do it" is his often stated motto. But he can't. He makes a mess of just about everything he tries. Upset at his constant interference, the other animals petition him to stop helping them and to focus on only one thing: building a dam so the downstream lands will not be flooded when the creek swells with runoff from the mountains above. He agrees. But there are two problems he must overcome to do their bidding.

First, he must convince old Hootie owl to move out of the big tree that he must gnaw down and place across the river. Second, he must dive into the water to construct the dam, and he is so afraid of water that he has built his own lodge on land. Icky the Lizard becomes Eager Beaver's friend and tries to lift his spirits. They trick Hootie Owl to leave, but Eager Beaver is still afraid to jump in the water and build the dam that will save the lives of many animals downstream. The final task is to gnaw and tilt the tree to fall across the water. Oops! It's falling the wrong way! What can he do?

R. Eugene Jackson, popular author of musicals such as our Babes in Toyland and The Wizard of Oz, uses this non-musical to make a point: Eager Beaver is able to defeat his fears and become a normal water-loving, tree-gnawing, dam-building beaver.

Children, and parents and teachers as well, will love this upbeat story about a young beaver struggling with his overabundance of eagerness and his unusual dread of water and overcoming both with aplomb and a big, toothy smile.

Set, the bank of a stream in a forest; time, the present. Production Notes in the script give suggestions on how to build Eager Beaver's lodge, painting the stream, gnawing the tree, falling tree, and saving the ducklings.

Other Jackson youth plays: Amazing Grace and Her Jellybean Tree, Coffey Pott Meets the Wolfman, Ghoul School, Little Red Riding Wolf, The Princess and the Goblin, Rumpelstiltskin is My Name, Who Can Fix the Dragon's Wagon?, Wind in the Willows

See also: Plays with Animal Characters