Review by Booklist Review
Ages 3-6. This is definitely a mood piece whose success is dependent upon the power of the artist's pictures. One autumn night a mother raccoon and her nearly grown kits sneak into a cornfield and eat more than their fill; at sunrise they scurry back into the woods, leaving behind the damaged corn they have been unable to eat. Arnosky's pictures have a way of making nature larger than life. His raccoons are a strong focus of attention, and the hushed nighttime mood is almost palpable. The nature lesson implicit in the depicted episode is not romantic; these raccoons are greedy and somewhat destructive. A close-up of one of them gnawing an ear of corn has an undercurrent of ferocity. The book reflects keen observation; youngsters not in a position to take in similar sights will find this slice of country life vivid and revealing. DMW. 599.74'443 Raccoons [CIP] 87-4243
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
On an autumn night, nature sends dry, yellow leaves and raccoons from a tree near the farm to the cornfield. The corn is ripe and the raccoons feast on the sweet kernels. The night passes, and the moon, an owl and the raccoons retreat before sunrise. Green husks, bare ears and half-eaten corn are left scattered among the fallen leaves. Arnosky's photograph-like depiction of nature allows the smallest of life-forms and the largest of natural phenomena to participate in one uniform processearth and sky, autumn winds and nocturnal animals, hunger and eating are all parts of nature's weaving. Fall colors of brown and yellow take on a softened, pastel look in the realistic night setting, and accurate details (the moonlight reflected in raccoon eyes) give readers a good picture of one night's occurrence. But a question remains: Can a stalk of corn really support a small but weighty-looking owl? Ages 3-8. (September) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3 Another brief encounter with wildlife for young children from this naturalist-artist, as a mother raccoon and two older kits come in autumn dusk to a farmer's field, enjoy a star-lit romp and feed, then skulk off at dawn. A trail of fall leaves across the title pages leads to 11 double-spreads of open pencil sketches and color washes of woods and farm. Skeins of gray-green stalks stretch against the hazy blue sky of a full moon; it is light enough to spot a bat, mouse, owl, wooly-bear caterpillar, or pawprints in the furrows. Simple declarative sentences appear in large print. The text is one that even kindergarten readers can try, and they will enjoy such details as that the tree behind which the raccoons wait before their raid is the same one past which they exit, its hollow now filled by the sleeping owl. The book is so simpleyet it has long-range, satisfying, repeated appeal for the youngest patrons. Ruth M. McConnell, San Antonio Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Corn has ripened in Arnosky's tangible, soft-pastel fields and hazy air. Watched by an owl, a totally charming mother racoon and her two kits move into the field by moonlight, and proceed to wreak havoc, decimating the rows of corn to pull down the ears. No peep from the farmhouse disturbs this revel; the three waddle away, perceptibly fatter. It's another wonderful picture story of wildlife, carefully presented with accurate and loving detail. Perhaps the thin plot is not a source of worry for those paying $13.00, but more seems to have been going on in previous Arnosky books, such as Deer at the Brook or Watching Foxes. What sort of den did the racoons return to? Arnosky has spoiled us in the past. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
