Griffin Ondaatje

There were things I liked about this story and some that I did not. Muddy is a raccoon that does not want to eat the things the other raccoon eat out of the river. He wants to cross over to the town and eat scraps at the restaurant. Not only that, but he wants to eat them on a plate. He has been told not to cross the river as the raccoons got in trouble years ago by doing that. Of course he doesn't listen. When the others find out what he has been doing, it leads to a revolution with all the raccoons heading over and clearing out the restaurant. Overall, I liked this one, but it was not exceptional. I will read it to my grandson and see what he thinks, but it is probably not one I would buy.

So what did I like: Muddy sticks to his convictions, he knows what he likes. The illustrations are great, they are not polished, but I think they will appeal to children. It is a fun story with a twist to the ending. I learned that raccoons dunk their food seven times before eating it.

What I didn't like: Muddy does not listen to his parents and sneaks out alone at night. Didn't really grab me, it was kind of ordinary.

The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon my request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.… (plus d'informations)

Muddy Whiskers, a young raccoon, lives with his parents and a sizeable group of other raccoons on the far side of the Mud River. Banished from the city for the trouble they’ve caused tipping over garbage cans, they now do the hard work of finding food for themselves: digging clams from the river’s muddy shores, washing the mollusks 17 times before eating them, and rinsing the shells another 17 times when they’re done. Frogs, slugs, acorns, turtle eggs, and crayfish complete their varied diet. Muddy, though, is finicky. He wants human food, and he wants to eat it as humans do: on a plate.

All the other raccoons have promised to stay on the wild side of the river. They don’t want further trouble. But Muddy just can’t believe humans are averse to him helping himself to their delicious leftovers; after all, they leave their rubbish bins right out in the open, and the bins are easy to get into.

When a new restaurant goes up on the other side of the river, Muddy takes to swimming across at night. He helps himself to a plate (he really likes to eat in style) and he proceeds to raid the bins. He washes up afterwards, of course, as any well-trained raccoon knows to do, and adds his plate to the big stack he’s made on the riverbank.

One night, the restaurant’s kitchen door is left open, and Muddy’s usual routine is interrupted. A tempting plate of French fries sits on the counter, and Muddy cannot resist . . . Later, the raccoon community discovers what he has been up to. Trying to keep on the straight and narrow, everyone is understandably alarmed by Muddy’s actions, particularly his stealing of plates. Eventually, all the raccoons rally around him to rectify the problem, and they are surprisingly and richly rewarded for their efforts.

Griffin Ondaatje’s charming story is likely to be well-received by young children. Viennese artist Linda Wolfsgruber’s delicate pencil crayon and watercolour illustrations complement the text nicely. Since the story is set mostly at night when raccoons eat, Wolfsgruber uses lots of greens and blues. One of her especially nice touches is outfitting Muddy with a red bow tie to distinguish him from the other members of his group.

I think if I were to read this book to young children, I’d couple it with a short nonfiction piece on raccoons. Unfortunately, in my part of Canada at least, humans have encroached on raccoon territory, and raccoons have grown very comfortable in urban areas. Cute as they may be, these wild creatures harbour a range of parasites and dangerous bacteria. They are also the most common species to carry rabies. Little kids need to know that just because the raccoons in Ondaatje’s picture book wash their food—and even their plates!—this doesn’t mean these wild animals are clean and safe for humans to interact with. At the end of the book, the humans dining at the restaurant flee the raccoons that arrive on the scene. They don’t understand what the raccoons are trying to accomplish or communicate. In real life, of course, an overly friendly raccoon should be regarded with real suspicion . . .… (plus d'informations)