Revenge of the raccoons

Vivek Shraya, 1981-

Book - 2022

"We're furry, we scurry, we're wild . . . you worry!" So begins Revenge of the Raccoons, a rollicking tale that finally gives these ring-tailed garbage pirates their say. The narrator raccoons start us off by playing up how humans view them--"We come for your doughnuts, we come for your cash. / We scratch through your screen doors. We come for your cats."--accompanied by spooky yet hilarious illustrations. As they detail their shenanigans, including hopping on subways and scaling cranes, the "We're furry" refrain punctuates the tale, with slight variations each time. When the humans comically cringe, asking "Why do you eat our doughnuts? Why do you eat our plants?" / "Do you want t...o eat us next, then do a zombie dance?", readers get a direct answer. We meet a raccoon face to face, who says: "It was YOU who came for US / and built houses everywhere"... and it becomes clear that these raccoons are not just pests but survivors of the real invaders: humans. A classic "us versus them" tale: kids will enjoy cheering on the rebellious raccoon antiheroes as they make the best of a bad situation. Ends on a lovely nighttime scene, raccoons cavorting against a cityscape, the perfect capper for a bedtime read. Casts the normally derided creatures in a new light (and raises issue of environmentalism and colonization in a kid-friendly yet respectful way). Kids are also disenfranchised mischief-makers, so they'll relate. Vibrant illustrations by Juliana Neufeld are an homage to vintage horror-movie posters/"creature features." Rhyming text means a fun read-aloud."-- more