Chester Raccoon loses his friend Skiddel Squirrel in an accident and he is learning to cope with it.
3-7
Bibliotherapy-death
Online

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When Chester Raccoon's friend has an accident and dies, Mrs Raccoon suggests that Chester and his friends create memories to celebrate their friend's life.

I did not like this book for two main reasons, the story was overly complicated for the age level, and the illustrations were less aesthetically please then other books previously written by this author. A book about a young raccoon Chester who experiences the death of his friend Skiddle Squirrel. As the story progresses (slowly), the mother raccoon encourages Chester to make a memory of Skiddle that he can keep close to his heart forever. I typically fear the topic of death as a theme for a children’s book, however the content of the book was carefully explained and heartwarming. Unfortunately the long winded nature of Mrs. Penn’s writing was overly distracting. I believe with a more concise approach toward the writing of this book it could have been more appealing. When reading this allowed to the class I was out of breathe and honestly a little bored. The illustrations were also an issue for me since I have seen other books from this author. The illustrator typically create work that includes multimedia, but for this book there is a very soft I believe graphically created type of illustration. This may just be a personal preference but I did not enjoy the illustrations of this as much as I enjoyed the ones in Audrey Penn’s book The Kissing Hand. ( )

My Opinion: This was such a sad yet poignant little book. For everyone who has ever been asked what being dead means from a child who has lost a friend or loved one, you know how hard it is to answer that question. I thought Audrey Penn did a phenomenal job with it. When Chester Raccoon's friend Skiddel Squirrel has an accident and his teacher tells the class he will not be returning ever again, he wants to know what happened and why. His mother tells him just like old Mr. Beaver, "His heart quit beating and his body didn't work any more." Chester now understands, and "his insides felt jumbled and he was very sad." I think that's a wonderful way to describe this feeling in language a child would understand.

When Chester is still upset, Mrs. Raccoon suggests that they make a memory of Skiddil Squirrel, "that way you'll never forget him." She explains what that means and they set out to go to one of Skiddil Squirrels favorite places to play, and along the way they pick up a whole slew of friends who want to make a memory of him as well.

As usual, Audrey Penn takes a very difficult subject down to a child's level, not telling too much or too little, and makes it easier to understand. Also as usual, Barbara Leonard Gibson's illustrations are spot on and adorable to boot.

I highly recommend this book to parents who are trying to help their little one understand and deal with death and give it a special 5 stars :D ( )