A beautifully illustrated story and well-written. Spot on in tackling fears a child might feel venturing out alone. While they may be with friends or extended family they know, being away from the comfort of home brings uncertainty.

Sweet story and some of the most perfect illustrations of forest animals I’ve ever seen! Like with many picture books, it’s hard to tell which is the most important part-the text or the illustrations, but fortunately, we get to have both with the newest installment in the Kissing Hand books. There is no need to read these books in any order, but after Chester has a wonderful day playing with his friends and settles in at his best friend’s house to sleep, he does make a brief reference to his mother’s kissing hand and that is when he begins to realize that he misses his own home and family and wants to sleep there instead of at Pepper Opossum’s house. Lots of conversation about animal behavior possible while and after reading this book. A must have for library collections serving PK-grade 3.

Chester Raccoon and the Almost Perfect Sleepover by Audrey Penn is the most gorgeous book ever – it’s filled with beautiful illustrations – I’m a total sucker for little woodland friends and their antics!!! Chester is super ready for his first sleepover with his friends. They have lots of adventures during the day – but when nighttime falls, he misses his mama and brother. While he goes home early, Mama reassures him that he’s always welcome home. Thank you to NetGalley , Audrey Penn and Tanglewood Publishing for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I’m adding a hardback copy to my little grand’s personal library – what a treasure!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2949357372

A Massive Thank You to the Author, the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book prior to its release date.

This book was perfect for us when we were discussing sleeping over somewhere and not being ready for it. The conversation had come up after watching an episode of my kids' favorite show. It was comforting and super cute. It helps that we already really love Chester Racoon and own several of the other books.

This is a story of a Raccoon, Chester Raccoon. He went on a day over to his friends and had fun and food there. He felt sad during sleepover and thereafter on returning home, for missing his family, specially his Mom, he hugged her and went for a sleep he didn't get with his friends last night..

This is very common for humans, like here depicted from the perspective of an animal, that, children do not adopted well without their parents. I do remember of my younger brother who didn't make me visit places on an outing and I have to return home midway for him to get our mother to sleep with, which he couldn't the night before. I was sad for vacation to not get complete but we laughed as well for he was so young then.

This is the story of Chester the raccoon and his first sleepover ever. Chester goes and spends the day with his friends playing games, having fun, laughing, eating snacks and has a great time but when Chester and all his friends lay down to sleep Chester finds he can't sleep cause he is homesick. So little Chester goes home to sleep, It's a very cute story.

5⭐️

Audrey Penn is one of those children's authors that I know we will love every thing she produces. This one does not disappoint.

In this story we are following Chester the Raccoon on his first sleep over with some friends. He's a tad bit nervous but so are some of his friends as well. Including a friend skunk the poofs a stinky smell depending on his emotions.

This a very sweet story showing making new fun memories with close friends. It's ok though to be scared and want to be with your family. You can always try again and it doesn't take away from the fun you have.

I love the illustration style in Penns book they bring a feeling of nostalgia of more classically illustrated books.

I would recommend this book to parents of elementary aged kids.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tanglewood Publishing for the advanced reader copy.

My daughter (age 9) and I read this book together. We have been huge fans of the previous books in this collection, so we were both excited to read this book. My daughter thought it was very well written and wants more books like this. She also found this book comforting and made her feel like it is ok to want to be at her own home and even leave early if she needed to. We both loved the illustrations and enjoyed looking at them as much as reading the story itself. I think this is a great book to read before a first sleepover. Fantastic and fun way to approach upcoming independence.

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Reading this book to my daughter just reminded me how safe our little ones feel when they’re with their moms.

There’s just something about that bond that is so unbreakable.

While Chester had so much fun with his friends, he was definitely ready to be back home with mom and his brother, Ronny, in their home sweet hollow. 🙂

Chester is about to go to his first “overday” (a day and night at his friends’ house). While he enjoys playing games with all of his animal friends, he decides he’d rather be at home with family.

While I appreciate the overall message of the story, I don’t think the execution was as strong. There was a callback to “The Kissing Hand” book and some giggles involving skunk spray. But other than that, it didn’t feel like anything new.

This may be a good book to read to a child before their first sleepover to help reinforce the idea that they can always come home if needed.

I fell in love with Chester Raccoon and his mom in The Kissing Hand. This is a delightful follow up that deals with a play date. The animals navigate taking turns and missing their mom. Great message!
The illustrations are delightful! Many thanks to the author, Tanglewood Publishing and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Adorable illustrations, fart humor from the skunk, and such a heartwarming message!
The characters were kind and loving, and I just loved how the mom worked through his anxiety about his first sleepover. I will be purchasing this book for my children as well as gifts!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A solid follow-up to the Kissing Hand. Parents and children will enjoy the continued adventures and emotional growth of Chester Raccoon

Audrey Penn is one of my favorite author's for young children. Her prose always teaches the gentlest lessons. I loved both the story in this sweet book as well as the vivid illustrations. Well done, Ms. Penn!!!!! Another book to add to my grandchildren's collection1

Chester Racoon is one of my favorite book characters. He has real feelings which his Mom encourages him to work through. Being cute and cuddly makes him enticing to children who love animals.

We love Chester Raccoon! I didn’t realize there was another book about him. The Kissing Hand really helped my children when they went to school. We liked reading the Chester Raccoon and the Almost Perfect Sleepover. The illustrations were great for the kids to follow along and the story was nice. Will be buying to add to our bedtime story collection.

Chester Raccoon and the Almost Perfect Sleepover by Audrey Penn is such a sweet book! I was scared of sleepovers growing up but learned to love them, and I’m sure many kids will relate. The special characters in this story all confront different challenges, and Chester struggles with separation anxiety. I think this is a really fun story. I received this copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a child, I loved the idea of and the beginning of sleepovers, but once night hit I became incredibly homesick. I would have loved to have a book like this one. It tackles the fears, fun, and excitement of sleepovers. It also sends the message that there is no shame in saying you need your own home and bed. Beautiful!

I read this sweet story to my 8 year old son and he really enjoyed it!

What I liked: I liked that this book showed the friends all being caring and considerate of one another. Each little animal had their own quirk which was valued by the group. We saw conflict resolution and empathy modeled, which is always great to see in a children’s book. I also thought it was great how Mrs. Opossum handled Chester’s separation anxiety with a gentle heart. I felt similar anxiety as a child during sleepovers, and seeing this normalized is great. I like that the book ended with Chester going to sleep because this type of ending always works really well for a bedtime story.

What my my son liked: My son laughed at Sassafras’s stinky puffs, and also when the animal friends ate trash for lunch. He loved the cute illustrations and thought all the animals were adorable.

Overall, we both loved this book and would recommend to anyone! We are glad we read it.