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.

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.

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.

*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.