Trouble

by Katherine Battersby

Overview

A thoughtful and entertaining children's parable about prejudice, starring a captivating trio of squirrel, mouse, and bear!

When a very large bear moves in next door, Squirrel is sure he can only be trouble for her and her beloved pet mouse, Chamomile. He has terrible teeth, and knife like claws, and huge, horrifying hungers . . . at least that's how Squirrel sees him. But where Squirrel sees trouble, Chamomile sees a new neighbor just trying to be friendly. Who is right.....and who is really causing trouble? Here is a charming story with an important and age-appropriate message about making assumptions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593114049
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	02/23/2021
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,105,931
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD500L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Katherine was born in Perth, Australia, spent a few years in Saudi Arabia, and then spent a very idyllic, outdoorsy childhood on the beach in North Queensland. After pursuing a career in pediatric occupational therapy, Katherine returned to her first love of writing and illustrating and published a series of books in Australia. Now living in Ottawa, Canada, with her poet husband and new baby daughter, she is turning her attention to the North American market.

Editorial Reviews

"A story about making friends and ditching assumptions . . .'Don’t judge a book by its cover' is the clear message, but readers would do well to judge this book by its eye-catching art . . . Trouble yourself to check this one out." —Kirkus Reviews  

From the Publisher

★ 01/01/2021

PreS-Gr 2—Quiet, tea-loving Squirrel has a new neighbor. He's a bear, and Squirrel, who narrates in the first person, and wears a charming hat and lovely apron, can tell just by looking at him that he's trouble. Bears are wild animals and she and Chamomile, her sweet, mouselike cat (or a mouse that meows), have seen his type before. Squirrel spends most of the story nursing her misconceptions about her neighbor, whom readers will clearly infer from the pictures is a clumsy, loud, cookie-loving, honey-collecting, gentle soul. Squirrel's prejudice comes to a head when she barges into Bear's home wielding a teapot expecting to have to rescue Chamomile from Bear's nefarious ways. Instead, she finds Chamomile helping Bear knit a scarf, which forces Squirrel to realize that Bear's not the trouble—Squirrel is. Bear is overly generous in forgiving Squirrel who doesn't actually apologize, but in the end "tea and cookies are the perfect pair…[each makes] the other better." Battersby's text flows well and is a pleasure to read, and only tells part of the story. The rest appears in a the clever illustrations, a mix of pencil, collage, photography. and digital media. For example, as Squirrel enumerates Bear's wild traits of terrible teeth, knifelike claws and horrifying hunger, readers see bear brushing his teeth, filing his nails while wearing bunny slippers, and eating cookies. Plenty of amusing bits and Chamomile's subtle expressions round out the story. VERDICT An amusing tale about stereotypes and prejudice, this is a great teaching moment clothed in an outstanding read-aloud.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Lib., Troy, NH

School Library Journal

2020-11-27
A story about making friends and ditching assumptions.

The anthropomorphic squirrel narrator is alarmed when a bear moves in next door, immediately assuming this new neighbor is Trouble with a capital T. The squirrel lives with a tiny mouse named Chamomile, who acts as a quasi-child and who brings out protective feelings in the squirrel as they overhear noises from the other side of the wall that divides their apartment from the bear’s. Readers privy to a cross section of the building will see that the bear is not doing anything alarming and that the squirrel’s fears are unfounded. Chamomile also discovers this truth before the squirrel does and befriends the bear. When the squirrel can’t find Chamomile after an encounter with the bear at the supermarket and fears the worst, those fears are put to rest with a scene of peaceable tranquility in the bear’s living room, and the squirrel eats crow. Next on the menu are tea and cookies shared among the trio of new friends. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is the clear message, but readers would do well to judge this book by its eye-catching art. Starting with the cover, it offers playful cartoon characterizations, and the incorporation of collaged photos of teapots and other items from the real world underscores the real-world application of the story’s heartfelt message. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 20% of actual size.)

Trouble yourself to check this one out. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews