The peculiar possum

The animal cast of the middle-grade Nocturnals series features in an alliterative episode formatted for newly independent readers on the timely theme of accepting strangers. Peeved by a sudden scarcity of pomelos, and perceiving strange sounds and a pungent smell, Bismark the sugar glider proclaims, We have a prowler in our presence! Out of the pomelo tree plunges Penny the possum, playing dead for a moment and then politely introducing herself. Gently chided by Dawn the fox for his rude response (which is delivered in a sort of pidgin: The way Penny hablos is downright bizarro! ), Bismark mends his attitude, apologizes, and invites the proud possum to a pomelo picnic. Perfecto! Hecht's playful narrative style livens the baldly delivered lesson, as do a handful of challenging words that are not only defined by context and in a glossary at the back but matched to equivalents in five languages. Basic facts about each nighttime creature (as well as pomelos) in Yee's simply drawn cartoon scenes are included in the back matter.--John Peters Copyright 2019 Booklist

Three animal friends try to figure out why a sugar glider's favorite food is missing and encounter a new neighbor in their community.The three anthropomorphic, nocturnal animals, Tobin (a pangolin), Bismark (a sugar glider), and Dawn (a fox), are puzzled when Bismark finds only one pomelo in the tree. They hear strange sounds and smell unfamiliar scents, both of which cause them to conclude they "have a prowler in [their] presence." This turns out to be a possum, who plays dead when she is frightened by the others. Bismark, already annoyed that she's taken at least one pomelo, thinks her behavior is "peculiar," and he tells her so when she comes to. Alliteration with the letter p dominates several of the ensuing passages as Penny the possum defends herself against Bismark's insults (Penny's "not pleasant" but "peculiar"; "Penny prowls and she pillages"). The other animals take her side, and eventually Bismark apologizes. The writing is both stilted and likely too sophisticated for many new readers, and it commits the cardinal grammatical sin of using "lay" instead of "lie"arguably a fatal flaw in an early reader. The art, which is largely redundant of text, provides cues to help readers with decoding, but its uninspired setting and bland, animation-inspired characterization do little to enhance the feeble storytelling. Not exactly peculiar but far from compelling. (Early reader. 6-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.