Revenge of the Raccoons

Acclaimed writer and artist Vivek Shraya follows up on the success of The Boy & the Bindi with her picture book featuring Toronto’s all-too-familiar mascot: raccoons. Shraya details the activities of the little urban burglars in rhyming couplets, outlining the raccoons’ nightly work of stealing trash, damaging property and terrorizing pets. But Shraya widens the narrative, detailing the hypocrisy of people who complain about the raccoon problem but snap selfies with the creatures for social media. The raccoons’ reputation as intruders is also questioned as it is shown that people were the ones who invaded the raccoons’ habitat and “built houses everywhere”. Shraya ends the story with the raccoons playfully stating that they’re in charge and will be staying in cities, forcing people to share their space and resources.

Juliana Neufeld’s quirky illustrations complement the story’s tone, each mischievous raccoon depicted with a unique look and manner of movement. The font and Neufeld’s nocturnal colour palette (dark grays and blacks shades interrupted by neon pinks, greens and oranges) make the book a perfect Halloween story for young readers, one told with an ecologically aware message. Toronto readers, in particular, will enjoy the tongue-in-cheek depiction of their home city and its favourite pests.