The family business

PreS-Gr 2--Lucky is the youngest raccoon in his family of six and he longs for the day he'll be big enough to help in the "family business," which is simply finding their next meal. While his family searches for food, Lucky stays home and watches TV. His special show is "Everyone Loves Dancing!" and he gets to let loose and practice his steps. The day he's finally big enough, Lucky joins the others in the hunt for edibles but soon discovers that he doesn't enjoy it. His parents and three brothers dive into dumpsters, gather refuse from garbage cans, and remove rancid fruit from an orchard. Everywhere they go, the family leaves a mess behind and is run off by angry, shouting humans giving Lucky "a giant stomachache." One day when he's supposed to be looking for food, he happens to peer into an open window, sees his favorite show on TV, and can't help but try out a few of his choice dance moves which are caught on video. After that, it's win-win. A lively telling is accompanied by colorful pictures created in digital pen and ink; these are filled with funny details of the energetic raccoon family. VERDICT For larger collections. Kids will get a kick out of the awful food the family eats and the satisfying solution to Lucky's problem.--Maryann H. Owen

Different family members have different talents. Lucky, the youngest of four raccoon siblings, eagerly awaits the day he is old enough to join the family business. When he is deemed big enough, he joins his family in their ongoing hunt for food, raiding dumpsters and compost bins and scrounging for rotting fruit. Along the way, they're called "robbers," "thieves," and "bandits" by the people who own the rubbish bins in which they're foraging. Aware for the first time of others' perceptions of his family, Lucky develops a stomachache at the thought of continuing the tradition and instead tries paying for snacks with found money and ultimately using his dancing skills to busk for money. Of course, a happy ending ensues, and the family business is modified. The book has fair pacing and amusing digital illustrations, but any educator, librarian, or caregiver who knows or suspects they know a family struggling with food insecurity will likely find this a problematic title. The raccoons are branded thieves for taking unwanted and discarded food items, and Lucky is treated with respect only when he has enough money to pay. In addition, the book contains a deeply flawed, not-so-subtle message that all it takes to change a family's ability to provide food are honesty and pluck. Human characters are racially diverse; one character uses a wheelchair. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Like raccoons you see out in the daytime, this book should be avoided. (Picture book. 6-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.