Praise for The Exquisite Feast
Book Review of The Exquisite
The Children’s Book Review
What to Expect: Siblings, Adventure, Cooperation, Animals, Food, Emotional intelligence.
Humorous and wise, this picture book builds literacy skills for readers transitioning from picture books to longer texts while offering gentle instruction in social skills, empathy, and teamwork.
Ali, Elise, and Ren dream of having the ultimate feast, but their inability to work together often causes trouble as the raccoon siblings attempt to raid the human campground they share their forest with. Ali is cautious and likes to plan, but her unwillingness to take risks leaves the impetuous and restless Elise feeling frustrated. Ren has skills and good ideas, but his fighting sisters rarely notice or include him. Ultimately, it takes a willingness to compromise—and some good advice from grandma—for the siblings to learn to hear and appreciate one another. And when they do, they have the most exquisite feast of their lives!
The three raccoon siblings are endearingly cute, with diverse personalities sure to resonate with young readers with their own siblings. In addition to modelling communication and listening skills for readers, the story is filled with humor as the raccoon’s point of view disregards the priorities of the human campers they contend with. Artwork filled with rich colors and lots of movement invites readers to view the natural world as magical and welcoming, underscoring the humor of the raccoons’ raiding. Reflection questions at the end of the story help reinforce the social-emotional learning of the story, making this a great resource for counsellors and teachers, as well as for home reading.
Sweet, funny, and instructive, The Exquisite Feast is a book that is sure to captivate and become a favorite wherever it is read.
Book review: The Exquisite Feast
Neil Moran, retired teacher and author of
North Country Gardening
A family of racoons lurking near a campground on Lake Michigan are hungry and will go to any length for a meal. Trouble is, the siblings can’t agree on how to approach the unwitting campers in Camp 12.
Elise is impatient and wants to charge in without a plan. Ali is the opposite, spending too much time planning and plotting. And then there is quiet Ren, who has good ideas but they’re not always considered by the group.
What’s a bunch of masked bandits to do?
Tension builds after Elise blows their cover when she rushes in to snatch an errant hot dog that was tossed into the weeds. In an amusing scene, the campers, who haven’t seen wildlife outside a zoo, are frightened when they see her in the flicker of the campfire light.
The siblings are angry with Elise but rather than continuing to feud over the situation they opt to consult with their grandmother. Grandma Raccoon convinces the siblings to cooperate and accept each other’s differences to achieve their goal, which is to score an “exquisite feast.”
You’ll have to read on to find out how it all comes together for these hungry, delightfully beguiling racoons.
The Exquisite Feast was penned by debut author and social worker, Jenelle Harden; it's beautifully illustrated by Marie Del. There is a discussion guide at the end of the book that explores the importance of working together and finding each other’s strengths to achieve a mutual goal.