Born in the hollow of a maple tree, Kit spends his early days sleeping and eating. But the security of his mother's warmth and milk are soon things of the past as he learns to fend for himself in the wild. His mother teaches Kit and his siblings how to fish and forage, but the young raccoons learn other survival skills through trial and error. Meanwhile, the family is always on the move, as Mama raccoon struggles to keep her family safe from predators. But without success. After Kit's sisters are killed -- one by an owl, another by a car -- Kit finds himself on his own, and life becomes even more of an adventure. He's trapped while investigating a family's garbage cans and later is chased out of a cornfield by hounds. In the end, he survives it all, finds a mate, and becomes a parent of his own brood. This realistic story about an animal familiar to most children will draw in attentive, nature-loving readers.