A raccoon, referred to as The Searcher, goes to sleep after a night of searching in his home on Old Tree. While he is sleeping, a horrible storm erupts and pounds the shore where Old Tree is located. As the storm gets worse, The Searcher continues to sleep. Old Tree protects him the whole time. When The Searcher wakes up, he realizes that the ground is soaked with water, and Old Tree's limbs are bent. He waves to Old Tree, and he knows that when his searching is over, and then sun begins to rise, Old Tree will be waiting for him. I love that Old Tree is The Searchers safe haven, and that in the illustrations, Old Tree has a gentle smile that slowly becomes more defined as the story goes on. ( )

Searcher heads home to the Old Tree after he finds enough food for the night. The Old tree has always been very reliable, and tonight will be no different. A storm comes through while the searcher sleeps. The storm brings a huge tide and very strong winds. The Old tree loses leaves and limbs, but it is still standing when Searcher wakes up. Having made it through the storm, Searcher is confident it will always be there when he returns from gathering food. ( )

Summary: The story is about a raccoon who sleeps through a hurricane. Everything around the raccoon is shaking (due to the fact that he is asleep in the tree), but it sleeps on. The tree stands firm against the waves. It is shaken, but not chopped down. Then once the hurricane is done, the raccoon awakens and knows that the tree will still be there once it returns.

Genre: This is a fantasy because no living creature would be able to sleep through that much of an upset to their environment. Also, raccoons for all we know do not have human thoughts, thinking that the tree will still be there when it comes back.

Setting: I believe the setting to be vital to the story because it takes place near the ocean in a tree that is strong and endures. The tree is the home, the place of safety and it is in the home that the raccoon feels safe enough to sleep through a terrible occurance that could have totally uprooted the tree. ( )

The Searcher is a raccoon and after his long day of foraging he returns to Old Tree to sleep. Old Tree keeps him safe and the attachment between the two is subtle but dear. Watercolor illustrations add to the tension of the story as we watch to see if The Searcher will stay safe through the stormy night.

This book was alright. The text wasn't too long, and the illustrations are nice. But the story didn't do much for me. It's one of those "quiet" stories without much plot. For example, the main character doesn't have a problem to solve. The story just happens *to* the main character. ( )