Trouble

Katherine Battersby

Book - 2021

A squirrel sees nothing but trouble in a bear newcomer who has terrible teeth, knife-like claws, and an oversized appetite, while her pet mouse perceives a new neighbor who is just trying to be friendly.

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1 / 2 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
Children's Room jE/Battersb Due Apr 2, 2024
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Subjects
Genres
Picture books
Published
New York : Viking 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Katherine Battersby (author)
Physical Description
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 26 cm
Audience
003-007.
ISBN
9780593114049
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

A squirrel lives happily in her cozy, teapot-decorated house with her diminutive charge, Chamomile, who looks like a mouse but behaves more like a devoted cat. All is peaceful until someone moves in next door--a bear! The squirrel has seen bears on TV (and noted their ferocious teeth and claws), and her worst suspicions are confirmed when she hears troubling noises and pictures the bear rampaging through his home, though readers--treated to split-panel visuals of the bear's activity--will see he's just growling after hitting his paw with a hammer as he tries to hang family photographs. The misunderstandings pile up--until Chamomile finally connects with the friendly bear, culminating in the sheepish squirrel realizing that she, with her unfounded fears and overreactions, was actually the trouble all along. Battersby's illustrations, a charming mishmash of digital drawings, pencil, collage, and even photography, create a winning, whimsical world. This sweet, humorous introduction to the very serious power of prejudice is certainly trouble worth getting into!

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 2--Quiet, tea-loving Squirrel has a new neighbor. He's a bear, and Squirrel, who narrates in the first person, and wears a charming hat and lovely apron, can tell just by looking at him that he's trouble. Bears are wild animals and she and Chamomile, her sweet, mouselike cat (or a mouse that meows), have seen his type before. Squirrel spends most of the story nursing her misconceptions about her neighbor, whom readers will clearly infer from the pictures is a clumsy, loud, cookie-loving, honey-collecting, gentle soul. Squirrel's prejudice comes to a head when she barges into Bear's home wielding a teapot expecting to have to rescue Chamomile from Bear's nefarious ways. Instead, she finds Chamomile helping Bear knit a scarf, which forces Squirrel to realize that Bear's not the trouble--Squirrel is. Bear is overly generous in forgiving Squirrel who doesn't actually apologize, but in the end "tea and cookies are the perfect pair…[each makes] the other better." Battersby's text flows well and is a pleasure to read, and only tells part of the story. The rest appears in a the clever illustrations, a mix of pencil, collage, photography. and digital media. For example, as Squirrel enumerates Bear's wild traits of terrible teeth, knifelike claws and horrifying hunger, readers see bear brushing his teeth, filing his nails while wearing bunny slippers, and eating cookies. Plenty of amusing bits and Chamomile's subtle expressions round out the story. VERDICT An amusing tale about stereotypes and prejudice, this is a great teaching moment clothed in an outstanding read-aloud.--Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Lib., Troy, NH

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A story about making friends and ditching assumptions. The anthropomorphic squirrel narrator is alarmed when a bear moves in next door, immediately assuming this new neighbor is Trouble with a capital T. The squirrel lives with a tiny mouse named Chamomile, who acts as a quasi-child and who brings out protective feelings in the squirrel as they overhear noises from the other side of the wall that divides their apartment from the bear's. Readers privy to a cross section of the building will see that the bear is not doing anything alarming and that the squirrel's fears are unfounded. Chamomile also discovers this truth before the squirrel does and befriends the bear. When the squirrel can't find Chamomile after an encounter with the bear at the supermarket and fears the worst, those fears are put to rest with a scene of peaceable tranquility in the bear's living room, and the squirrel eats crow. Next on the menu are tea and cookies shared among the trio of new friends. "Don't judge a book by its cover" is the clear message, but readers would do well to judge this book by its eye-catching art. Starting with the cover, it offers playful cartoon characterizations, and the incorporation of collaged photos of teapots and other items from the real world underscores the real-world application of the story's heartfelt message. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 20% of actual size.) Trouble yourself to check this one out. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.