Title: Rocky the Respectful Raccoon and his Red Sunglasses
Author/Illustrator: Janet H. Councilman
Publisher: AuthorPress
ISBN: 976-1-44314-166-8
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book
Pages: 27
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Hollywood Book Reviews
Every animal has its peculiar characteristics, and we all know the black-mask of a raccoon, making it look like a bandit, is its most noticeable feature. In Rocky the Respectful Raccoon and his Red Sunglasses by author Janet H. Councilman, readers are brought into a lovely children’s story themed to educate while also entertaining.
Rocky is a personified raccoon who lives in The Old Oak Woods along with his friends: Spike the squirrel; Daniel the deer; Carman the cardinal, Mrs. Rosy the rabbit; Buster the bunny; and others. It is Thanksgiving time and Rocky is very much concerned with providing delicacies of food treats for each of his friends, a thoughtful, kind and generous gesture.
Every day when Rocky washes his face, he scrubs his eyes hoping to clear up the black mask – to no avail. It is a facial feature which embarrasses Rocky, as it makes him look different from all of his other friends. No other animal looks like him. Then, one day when walking in the forest, Rocky finds a pair of large red sunglasses. He puts them on and thinks how great they look, as it covers his black eyes! Rocky was going to wear them to the Thanksgiving feast planned for the next day.
But that next day when Rocky wakes up and gets dressed, he can’t find those sunglasses anywhere, and has to go to the gathering without them. Carman the cardinal notices something is upsetting Rocky and asks, “What’s wrong?” As Rocky explains the situation of not finding the red sunglasses which he was hoping to wear, Carman said that everyone has things that are different from others – and that’s a good thing. She said her voice is only good for tweeting, not being able to sing a song like most other birds; Buster the bunny says his ears flop, which he cannot seem to change; Spike the squirrel says his ears have a notch in them and he wanted to hide in under a hat. So, each of the animals told Rocky they all have idiosyncrasies, and most importantly they like him just the way he is – mask and all.
The gentle storyline interleaved with the artistic illustrations, showcases the talent of writing and drawing of Janet H. Councilman. Once again, as she has done in all of her other books, the young reading audience’s lives are touched by the synergistic combination of text and pictures. When reading this book, or having it read to a youngster, it covers the bases for being a quintessential children’s story of talking animals, used to demonstrate how if you are respectful and kind to others, it makes for a loving gathering. Celebrating Thanksgiving, or any holiday is more important than worrying about a particular difference in each other’s appearance.
Rocky the Respectful Raccoon and his Red Sunglasses is a book which will be opened often at bedtime, providing a nurturing and safe zone away from bullying, self-awareness of inherent visual characteristics, and enjoying the differences in each person, or animal in this case, making a wonderful world for all.