Raccoon's Perfect Snowman

Written and Illustrated by: Katia Wish
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Publication Date: August 2020
ISBN: 978-1534110670
Reviewed by: Ellen Feld
Review Date: September 9, 2020

What will happen when one very determined raccoon wants to make the perfect snowman and decides to share his techniques with his friends but forgets to share his tools and supplies?

Raccoon loves winter! And the best part of winter? Making snowmen! Raccoon knows that making snowmen isn't a simple process. He designs, and plans, and gets just the right tools to get the job done. He spends the whole winter practicing and finally he's ready to make the perfect snowman. Raccoon's friends are watching and so he decides to invite them to make their own snowmen, under his guidance, of course.

Raccoon instructs his friends as they work. "Only use clean snow," he tells Rabbit, but poor Rabbit has no choice but to use dirty snow because all the good, clean snow was used by Raccoon. "Make the snowman perfectly level," he tells Fox, but Raccoon is so busy using his tools that he forgets to share them with Fox. Poor Fox winds up with a rather lop-sided snowman.

When all the snowmen are completed, Raccoon has created a snowman that is beyond compare. But is it perfect? When he looks at his friends' snowmen, he sees three rather dirty, lop-sided, and goofy-looking snowmen. It's then that Raccoon realizes he was so busy making his own snowman, that he forgot to share his tools and supplies with his friends. Will they be able to work together to create a perfect snowman?

Raccoon's Perfect Snowman is a fun story that teaches an important lesson in a very subtle way. By watching Raccoon's process of making a snowman, and seeing what happens because he's so busy with his own snowman that he forgets about helping his friends, children will see the outcome of not sharing. The story isn't preachy but rather simply tells a fun story. And the outcome of their efforts when they all work together is delightful (and a bit goofy too which children will love). Wrapped up with the lovely illustrations created by the author, this is a cool winter story that will warm the heart.

Quill says: Raccoon's Perfect Snowman is a sweet story that very cleverly wraps a lesson about sharing into the exploits of a racoon and his friends.