Muddy: The Raccoon Who Stole Dishes is a cute story of a raccoon named Muddy, who is a picky eater. Muddy doesn't eat raccoon food—instead, he prefers combing through garbage for leftover food. Moreover, he likes to eat on plates. I liked the illustrations and enjoyed the story—though the ending was a bit abrupt. Overall, an enjoyable read.

Thank you to Griffin Ondaatje, NorthSouth Books, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wonderful and fun book! My entire family enjoyed it! I highly recommend this lovely little book!     Don't pass this one up!

Thanks to NetGalley and North South Books for the Digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I really liked the illustrations, and the story started well, but the ending wasn't the best, I thought that there is something wrong with my edition and re-download it. I was left with Questions the story didn't answer.

And I don't think that the black font was the best choice it felt a little harsh and on one page was a bit hard to read in the beginning.

Thanks to Netgalley and North South Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I was left feeling disappointed with Muddy; The Raccoon Who Stole Dishes, by Griffin Ondaatje. While the illustrations were a little less polished (I liked this and thought it went well with the story), the story did not stand out at all. What could have been cute, unfortunately ended up way too abruptly and had missed opportunities to explain parts of the story so as to feel more engaged with Muddy and his choices. 

Muddy is a raccoon who lives on the outskirts of town with his parents in a tree. Muddy and all the other raccoons were banished from the city because they were eating out garbage cans. Muddy doesn't like the food that is available to him and prefers eating garbage. He ends up taking plates of food back to his home and when his family discovers this (and all the plates), they make him take them back. 

While I think there are some good lessons here, the abrupt ending and idiosyncrasies of the raccoon (which were important enough to repeat, but not explain) left me completely confused. Maybe a child wouldn't care, but I think most kids will want to know why all of a sudden it's okay to take the plates back home after the raccoons tried to return them. 

Overall, a nice beginning, but I wish the ending would have been better. Unfortunately, I will not be buying this for my child and can't say I would loan it from the library either.

This book was really sweet.  The raccoon who steals snacks.  Who would've thought?  I really enjoyed reading this book with my children.

This was a very cute book. I read it to my 8 year old twins and it kept them giggling throughout it . Basically a little rebellious raccoon wants the leftovers off people's plate that the raccoons agreed not to take. We loved the illustrations as well. The book made a great bedtime story and I've read it to the kids a few times at their request

This was a cute story about a raccoon and his family. Muddy doesn't like the typical raccoon food and decides to eat leftovers from a restaurant. He leaves the plates on the shore of the river, just like the other raccoons leave clam shells on the shore. He runs into trouble when he finds a tempting plate of french fries inside the restaurant. The other raccoons come to help and all is resolved. The illustrations are really cute!

Cute book about a raccoon who wants to eat leftover food although all the other raccoons agreed not to. The raccoon is super cute with his bow tie but the illustrations aren't my favorite.

Cute story about a raccoon named Muddy who likes to eat food from the trash on a plate. Illustrations are good.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

This was such a fun and adorable book. My boys loved this book and giggled throughout at Muddy’s adventures. We really enjoyed the story and the fantastic illustrations. So much fun!!

*thank you to Netgalley and North South Books Inc for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars

I liked it! It was quite a fun little story to read. We all know raccoons are mischievous little things, expecually when it comes to food that gets left out or in garbage bins. This story is about a cheeky little raccoon who doesn't want to just settle and eat normal raccoon food like his family. Oh no. He wants the good stuff. The food scraps from the restaurant across the river! I bet kids will have fun with this. I know I did. The illustrations have both a childlike feel to them but are also detailed, well done and it looks great. Definitely recommend.

While most of the raccoons learned it is best to leave the garbage on the other side of the river alone, Muddy braves it each night. The other raccoons fear it will get him into big trouble. One day he crosses the river, goes into the restaurant, steals a plate, and pushes it across the river, heaping the plate with others he's stolen. The other raccoons help him wash the dishes and return all the plates, clearing the restaurant in the process. This book, first published in Switzerland, offers nice illustrations, but the story may not resonate with some readers.I received an advance electronic copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a charming picture book!

The illustrations are beautiful and well placed throughou the book.
The content is honest and fun. The premise is wonderful, again, showing that it is okay to be different, to need different things to survive in the world we live in.

A beautiful, simple yet complex, and interesting tale that I feel that young children would flock to. Definitely recommend this for life units for teachers.

While I was intrigued by the idea of a raccoon with a refined palate, the young readers that I shared this book with  weren't very engaged with the story of the illustrations. Muddy is a fun character, and the repeated mention of raccoons performing an action seventeen times was amusing, but I don't know that the children I read the book with understood just how silly it was for a raccoon to steal food from a restaurant. Perhaps children who are more familiar with the nighttime critters would enjoy the story more!

Muddy is a sweet raccoon who likes doing his things his own way. Instead of eating usual raccoon food, like small animals and plants, he loves human food, and is used to find his favorite meals in the garbage of a nearby restaurant. Best of all, he likes disposing his chosen food on a plate before eating. All is well for him, until one day, when his community hear of what he is doing and informs him that he is breaking an ancient pact. Long ago, the raccoons promised to never again steal human food, and humans to never again chase raccoons. 

From this serious plot unravels a sweet and funny story about taking responsibilities for your mistakes, asking for forgiveness, and in the end, enjoying what presents itself to you. I really enjoyed the story, even if I was so-so about the ending. The illustrations are truly wonderful.

Minimalist artwork tells the story of a bowtie-wearing raccoon who prefers foraging in garbage cans than in the woods, but then insists on eating off plates. I don’t know why his parents call him a picky eater—unless they mean picking through garbage—but that’s definitely not my definition.
Apparently raccoons are OCD about washing, with a strangely high prime number.
The ending did not go as I expected, and I’m not sure if there’s supposed to be a point to all this. Muddy did bad things and got away with them in the end; not only did the punishment backfire, he got to do even more of what got him in trouble in the first place!

hehehe this book is quite funny. A picky eater Racoon? Sounds like me since I am a picky eater too even though I love food :p I love how the family portrayed in this book, and also a message about family from this book. It's such a cozy, enjoyable, and quiet story of family of racoon that your kids and perhaps yourself will enjoy :D

A funny and cute short story about a picky-eater raccoon. The illustrations are also lovely and kids will definitely love this.

Muddy is a charming raccoon--with a specific appetite. Muddy: The Raccoon Who Stole Dishes is relatable to any parents of "picky" eaters. While the story of Muddy is lovely and funny, the art in this book (done by Linda Wolfsgruber) is the clear winner. I loved the hand-drawn figures amidst the hand-painted backgrounds. It gave the book a cozy and warm feeling while reading about a mischievous animal in the middle of winter. I would love to see this be the kick-off to a series! My children would love to continue reading about the adventures of Muddy, the picky Raccoon!!! I also think this book would lend itself well to children's book subscription kits like Ivy Kids.