Cute illustrations for this children's book, but the message to me was "Muddy". About a raccoon who liked to eat garbage on plates, and went against the rules of his parents and the other raccoons, not to eat garbage, to forage in the river for their food. He finally decided not to eat garbage anymore and return all the plates to the restaurant, and all the raccoons helped him. When they arrived at the restaurant with the clean plates, the people ran away and the raccoons ate their food and took all the plates. What? I'm not crazy about this message.....

Raccoons are adorable and you can hardly go wrong when you feature them in a book. Sadly, there are books with illustrations that are more detailed, more professional looking and also more charming. I wanted to love this story but the writing just doesn't sit well with me.

Muddy is a cute story enough about a raccoon who didn't want to eat what regular raccoons eat and stole dishes of food from a nearby restaurant. Unfortunately, this book was not my favorite. The illustrations were sweet but not colorful or eye catching. The writing itself was lackluster.

A lovely story with cute illustrations.

Muddy, a little raccoon, can’t help himself. He loves good food and so steals leftovers from a restaurant’s rubbish bins. When he is discovered, he has to make amends. The whole raccoon community decides to help him and walks over to restaurant ...

The sentences flow really well and are easily understood by children. The story itself is very charming and at times even funny. The illustrations are not breathtaking but they are cute and fit the story about little raccoons well. It was an enjoyable read and I wouldn't mind reading it to my kids over and over again.

Muddy is a little raccoon who loves food - especially leftovers, and especially on dinner plates. His parents and other raccoons tell him not to take plates but he loves them so much.

This book was very cute and I learned a lot about raccoons while reading it. Muddy likes to eat his food on a plate, so he steals them ... sadly the other raccoons are not ok with this because one of them stealing gets them all in trouble. Muddy is fun to follow through this tale and how they decide to return all the plates he has taken is very fun and funny to read. 


If your young one likes animals, this would be a fun read for the whole family.

I found the story of Muddy hilarious, as I grew up with raccoons in our neighborhood so I can totally relate.  I did wonder if children who haven't seen raccoons - to know how they love to steal people food - would get it as much, but I'm sure it's still fun.  And it had a great moral of making things right!  I didn't care for the illustrations - they have an unfinished quality, like the illustrator is still in the process of sketching ideas and isn't to the finished product yet, but others might enjoy that style.

A cute story filled with cute raccoons! Muddy the raccoon likes to eat off of plates, and he has a preference for human food, which was intriguing enough. The illustrations weren't as engaging or stylized as I personally prefer them to be but I think it worked with the story. I wish the ending had more of a conclusion.

Muddy was such a likable character.  Raccoons are a great choice for children's books as they are depicted as cute and cuddly.  Muddy's inquisitive personality also tied in well with the theme of the book.  

The illustrations were lovely.  The soft colors that were used made them feel very natural and fit the story perfectly.  

The flow of the storyline started a little awkwardly but it became stronger as the story went on.  Perhaps the earlier portion of the story could be more appealing if it were re-worded and was a little more kid-friendly.  It seemed that more words were used than were necessary to set up the plot.  When this happens, you can lose the attention of young listeners.

Overall, I felt this book fell between 3 and 4 stars.

A raccoon family survives off the refuse of humans. This book has naive illustrations that varied in quality. The story and the text also varied. There were a few attractive moments, like a night vista with a lone raccoon leaving a home after "shopping." But, there are better children's books with raccoons.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

This is such a cute picture book! I giggled at the raccoons and their dishes, and I think Muddy finds an excellent echange for services. Little ones will find it silly and entertaining.

Muddy by Griffin Ondaatje is a charming children's book that tells an engaging story about a raccoon named Muddy who is a picky eater.
Raccoons were banished from the city since they tipped over garbage cans. Now there make do with what food they can find. However, Muddy really likes to eat human food and from the plate as well. So even though he knows he shouldn't he visits a new restaurant every night to get the food. 
One night he is discovered and raccoon community forces him to make amends. That's when surprise awaits.

This is a lovely book, fabulously illustrated. Most done in greens and blues due to the majority of action happening at night. Watercolor illustrations are amazing. I especially liked how Muddy has a red bow tie to distinguish him from the other raccoons.

I didn't like the fact that he didn't listen to his parents but I liked how he tried to rectify his behavior and make amends.
A bit of a confusing message for the children but overall nice read.

Muddy Whiskers, a young raccoon, lives with his parents and a sizeable group of other raccoons on the far side of the Mud River. Banished from the city for the trouble they’ve caused tipping over garbage cans, they now do the hard work of finding food for themselves: digging clams from the river’s muddy shores, washing the mollusks 17 times before eating them, and rinsing the shells another 17 times when they’re done. Frogs, slugs, acorns, turtle eggs, and crayfish complete their varied diet. Muddy, though, is finicky. He wants human food, and he wants to eat it as humans do: on a plate.

All the other raccoons have promised to stay on the wild side of the river. They don’t want further trouble. But Muddy just can’t believe humans are averse to him helping himself to their delicious leftovers; after all, they leave their rubbish bins right out in the open, and the bins are easy to get into.

When a new restaurant goes up on the other side of the river, Muddy takes to swimming across at night. He helps himself to a plate (he really likes to eat in style) and he proceeds to raid the bins. He washes up afterwards, of course, as any well-trained raccoon knows to do, and adds his plate to the big stack he’s made on the riverbank. 

One night, the restaurant’s kitchen door is left open, and Muddy’s usual routine is interrupted. A tempting plate of French fries sits on the counter, and Muddy cannot resist . . .  Later, the raccoon community discovers what he has been up to. Trying to keep on the straight and narrow, everyone is understandably alarmed by Muddy’s actions, particularly his stealing of plates. Eventually, all the raccoons rally around him to rectify the problem, and they are surprisingly and richly rewarded for their efforts.

Griffin Ondaatje’s charming story is likely to be well-received by young children. Viennese artist Linda Wolfsgruber’s delicate pencil crayon and watercolour illustrations complement the text nicely. Since the story is set mostly at night when raccoons eat, Wolfsgruber uses lots of greens and blues. One of her especially nice touches is outfitting Muddy with a red bow tie to distinguish him from the other members of his group. 

I think if I were to read this book to young children, I’d couple it with a short nonfiction piece on raccoons. Unfortunately, in my part of Canada at least, humans have encroached on raccoon territory, and raccoons have grown very comfortable in urban areas. Cute as they may be, these wild creatures harbour a range of parasites and dangerous bacteria. They are also the most common species to carry rabies. Little kids need to know that just because the raccoons in Ondaatje’s picture book wash their food—and even their plates!—this doesn’t mean these wild animals are clean and safe for humans to interact with. At the end of the book, the humans dining at the restaurant flee the raccoons that arrive on the scene. They don’t understand what the raccoons are trying to accomplish or communicate. In real life, of course, an overly friendly raccoon should be regarded with real suspicion . . .

There were things I liked about this story and some that I did not. Muddy is a raccoon that does not want to eat the things the other raccoon eat out of the river. He wants to cross over to the town and eat scraps at the restaurant. Not only that, but he wants to eat them on a plate. He has been told not to cross the river as the raccoons got in trouble years ago by doing that. Of course he doesn't listen. When the others find out what he has been doing, it leads to a revolution with all the raccoons heading over and clearing out the restaurant. Overall, I liked this one, but it was not exceptional. I will read it to my grandson and see what he thinks, but it is probably not one I would buy.

So what did I like: Muddy sticks to his convictions, he knows what he likes. The illustrations are great, they are not polished, but I think they will appeal to children. It is a fun story with a twist to the ending. I learned that raccoons dunk their food seven times before eating it.

What I didn't like: Muddy does not listen to his parents and sneaks out alone at night. Didn't really grab me, it was kind of ordinary. 

The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon my request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

Muddy the Raccoon Who Stole Dishes is a fun lighthearted story of a naughty raccoon! 
As I read the story I thought of how my first graders would love it! 
The thought of raccoons stealing dishes, then washing them in the river is quite hilarious.

Muddy did indeed steal my heart along with an awful lot of leftovers. Muddy and his raccoon family and friends were banished from the city for reading too many leftovers and leaving big messes. The rest off his group is quite content with living in the first, but not Muddt! He sees the lights and smells the food and wants nothing more than a big plate of food. What happens next is so funny to will want to read it over again.

I read this story to my 8 and 10-year old daughters. They liked the story. They thought Muddy was cute and it was funny that he was stealing food to eat on plates. We liked the illustrations as well. Very cute book.

Muddy the Raccoon Who Stole Dishes is a fun lighthearted story about a mischievous raccoon.
Muddy wears a fashionable red bow tie and lives with his parents by the river.
As I read the story to my youngest, she kept laughing the entire time. The thought of raccoons stealing dishes, then washing them in the river is quite hilarious.

The illustrations are fun and quirky, perfect for any home or classroom library.

Muddy is the story of a raccoon who loves to eat his food on plates. Complicating things even more for this little guy he has grown to love human food. So unbeknowst to his family, Muddy has been stealing food and dishes from a restaurant across the river. When his secret is revealed all the raccoons work together to wash and return the plates to the restaurant. Of course the humans do not see this as an act of kindness. They freak out and run away.

I was disappointed with this story. I think the author missed many opportunities to engage the reader and expand the story. There is no time for readers to care about Muddy before the story abruptly ends with no real conclusion. My granddaughter had lots of questions - like "What happened to the raccoons? Where did they go, and what did the people do?" Her curiosity showed she was interested and wanted to know more. Which is great. However, she was also disappointed the author did not answer those questions. 

Muddy could have been a really good story. But the author left too much to the reader's imagination. The illustrations were cute and went well with the narrative. I wasn't a fan of the font. It was difficult to read and in some places nearly blended into the artwork.

I will not be purchasing this book for my granddaughter's and therefore cannot in good conscience recommend it to other readers.

This picture book written by Griffin Ondaatje and illustrated by Linda Wolfsgruber was a delightful read. Muddy is a mischievous young raccoon who enjoys the finer things in life — namely restaurant food eaten on real dishes. While the other raccoons in his family are content with “normal” raccoon food, Muddy often sneaks off to steal from the restaurant. As his mother often says, Muddy is a picky eater. When his secret is discovered, the raccoons try to make amends by returning all of the plates Muddy stole, but things don’t go quite as they expect. 

I loved the illustrations which were beautiful in an understated way and worked well with the storyline. I wasn’t a fan of the font that was used, and thought a better font would have enhanced this otherwise adorable picture book. The story’s ending was a bit abrupt, but made sense with the plot and the nature of raccoons. Overall, this was a very enjoyable book that subtly teaches children about raccoons, their eating habits, and their opportunistic personalities in a fun and approachable way.

This is a fun little picture book about a raccoon who likes to eat off of plates. The art style is original and the story has a cute arc which has kind of a funny surprise ending. I really enjoyed the realism of the raccoons' cleaning behaviors.