The Troublemaker

PreS-Gr 1—A mischievous and very bored boy decides to pilfer his sister's stuffed bunny for his pirate game. Chastised by his mom, he decides to play nicely with his toy raccoon. Too bad he doesn't look around, because some mysterious troublemaker begins to skulk off with the children's toys. Sharp-eyed readers will notice the work of a hoarding real raccoon. The final straw is when the thief steals the boy's blanket overnight. When he awakens, he spots the raccoon surrounded by his belongings asleep in a tree—"What a troublemaker!" The full-color pen-and-ink art, compiled digitally, features strong black lines, silhouettes, and a playful variety of perspectives to follow the action. The use of shadows and illustrations glimpsed through circles (as if readers are peeking in) create a sense of suspense. Hands, paws, toys, and characters pop in and out of the page edges, lending a playful immediacy to the plot. The antics of the raccoon and having the tables turn on the boy helps him understand his sister's feelings of loss and weave a subtle lesson into the bright clever plot.—Marge Loch-Wouters, La Crosse Public Library, WI