"Muddy" by Griffin Ondaatje is a charming and delightful children's book about Muddy the raccoon who loves eating off plates. This heartwarming story is sure to capture the hearts of young readers and leave them with a lesson in empathy and kindness.

I really liked this book as a concept, but I think there was some pieces that failed in execution. The basic story is very cute with this little raccoon who just loved to eat leftovers on plates. The color palate and drawing style really enhanced the story and gave it a calm and dreamlike quality. My issue more comes with the text. There is far too much text on each page and at times felt like far too much detail for a child's story. It started off with the right amount of text on the page but quickly was far too much. It also felt like there was too much going on for a simple picture book. Overall it was cute and I think some kids will enjoy it.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the illustrations in this book. I liked the raccoon character. The story was cute, but I thought it ended sort of abruptly. A nice read though.

Adorably illustrated kids story. This is an absolutely beautiful book with a delightful story and the most charming illustrations.
I teach English as a foreign language, and for my littlest students that involves lots of storytelling and activities around the themes of the story. I can see this adorable tale quickly becoming a firm favourite.
I had the chance to read a preview copy of the book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, and I will be keeping an eye out for this one when it comes out!!

This book is so cute! It follows an adorable raccoon that’s a thief—as all raccoons are—named Muddy. Muddy and his family live across river from a newly built restaurant. Against the rules of his raccoon community, Muddy crosses the river to steal food and plates from the restaurant.

This story reminds me of when I lived in wooded mountains and a family of raccoons used to come up onto my porch at night to steal cat food belonging to my family’s cats. With the porch light on, my brothers and I watched them from our living room window, a mama raccoon with several kids/kits, and this was one of the cutest sights I’ve ever seen.

This would be a great book to read to children any time of the day or year.

The Mud River raccoon community have been banished from the city because of their fondness for restaurants. One member of the community, Muddy Whiskers, has a problem—he likes to venture to a nearby restaurant, where he steals food and plates. Once his fellow raccoons find out about his habit and witness the large pile of plates Muddy has collected, they try to help. Ultimately, Muddy leads the other raccoons to a restaurant showdown—where the story is, rather strangely, left unresolved. Suddenly, it’s just over. The story felt a bit disjointed in places, as well. The illustrations are charming and children will likely enjoy seeing the raccoons in scarves and bow ties. It’s wonderful, as well, to see the raccoon community come together to help Muddy out of his predicament.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Eh, it was cute and a little funny at the end, but it was just eh. Muddy the Raccoon is hard-headed and practical, which I really liked, however, the author didn't make me want to continue reading the story. It was flat. Wish the art was more eye-catching or the story had more oomf.
#Muddytheraccoon #Netgalley

Beautiful illustrations, but the story doesn’t really seem to go anywhere. Pretty wordy so better for older children

Although Muddy is a cute concept for a children's story there just isn't enough there. The book lacks anything really interesting to draw you in and you are left wondering what the point is. There are no real funny bits, no parts that make you happy or sad, you read it and then forget it.
The cover is also the best of all the illustrations and they just seem to go down hill from there.

This story was so silly to me. A raccoon named Muddy sneaks out at night to eat leftovers and garbage off of plates while his family eats clams and bugs and snails.

The raccoons are against this behaviour as it has gotten them in trouble in the past, and Muddys eating habits end up getting them in trouble again.

Dipping things 17 times, picky raccoons, and cute illustrations make this book feel wacky and fun.

Muddy is the story of a young raccoon with a love for garbage. But to continue this life style, Muddy must steal his nightly meals from the retardant's garbage. Elementary readers would enjoy this book and could learn from the overall theme of empathy, friendship, and learning from our mistakes.

The story didn't capture me, and the illustrations were more mediocre. It's not a bad book, but not one I'd recommend.

Very much enjoyed this book. Well drawn and I appreciate Muddy's perspective. I'm a little worried about the "picky eater" designation, but I don't think many kids will notice. I would say it's good for the 3-6 aged bunch. Will definitely ask my library to get a copy.

Cute story! I've had so many comical run ins with raccoons on camping trips, my backyard, etc... These little bandits are just so darn cute its hard to stay mad at them! But I also am aware that they are carriers of rabies, so I understand the folks at the restaurants reaction to a line of raccoons coming to visit! But it's still an entertaining story of a little raccoon who likes people food and eating off of plates! Cute illustrations! I think the littles will enjoy this story, just be sure warn them about making friends with them!

This was a funny read of a mischievous raccoon named Muddy Whiskers. Muddy is a young raccoon who lives with his parents and is a picky eater and prefers to eat human food on plates. The illustrations are adorable my son and I liked the story. Thank you NetGalley for my copy!

My nephew really enjoyed this book! He’s a fan of all animals, especially more “wild” ones, and he loved the idea of a raccoon around his age. Muddy is a young raccoon who is more civil and sophisticated than the rest of the Mud River raccoons since he wears a bow tie and likes to eat off of plates. The illustrations were well done and I love the colors that were used. This book kept him entertained, was funny, and had an adorable raccoon.

I liked the idea of a book about a raccoon, it's different and less common.
I feel raccoon are often misunderstood, so I was looking forward to reading this book.

I liked the illustrations, and found the story funny.
I feel there is something missing though, and felt the story ended too suddenly.
I would have liked it a little longer with a better conclusion.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Why shouldn't we eat delicious leftovers if they leave them in big bins for us to find?" Muddy the raccoon keeps asking his parents.
This is a funny children's story about a little picky eating raccoon who doesn't want to settle for less. The illustrations were cute as well.
I'd like to thank netgalley for the advanced reading copy.

This was a fairly short and easy read of a mischievous raccoon named Muddy Whiskers. Muddy is a young raccoon who lives with his parents. Muddy is a picky eater and prefers to eat human food on plates. One day when a new restaurant opens, Muddy decides to go exploring. When the rest of the raccoons find out what Muddy is doing they make him return all the plates and apologize so that they don't get into trouble. The raccoons returning the plates causes chaos at the restaurant and Muddy's apology doesn't go as planned.

The illustrations were adorable and I think they went well with the story. Overall I liked the story. I think young kids would like Muddy and his picky preferences and would laugh at his antics. I do think parents might have to explain to some children about Muddy's antics being wrong, as the ending could be misconstrued.

This is an odd little situation. Raccoons are often misunderstood, so I was interested to see the approach this story would take. It's certainly different from the typical raccoon portrayal but I'm not sure it really worked for me. I wasn't sure what the reader was meant to take away from the story.