Wild Summer Week Eight: Raccoons
Mr. Raccoon shares expert advice on enjoying summer with books and fun!
Welcome to Week Seven of our Summer Challenge, a free reading challenge all about pairing books with summer fun! If you’re new here, please jump right in! We are sharing book recommendations, discussion starters, activity ideas, and more now through August 11. You can see a round-up of all the posts and downloads so far here. Plus, we’re doing a giveaway at the end of the summer. Sign up today to be eligible to win!
This week’s guest is a fan-favorite here in the United States, known for the black patches over his eyes that make him look like a little bandit! Some call him a trash-panda, and scientists use a fancier title: Procyon Lotor. I prefer to use his common name—Raccoon! The floor is yours, Mr. Raccoon!
Hello and happy Raccoon Week, reader friends! Raccoons are small bear-like mammals, about the size of a house cat (and just as mischievous), and we can be found in North America, Central America, and the northern part of South America. We raccoons love summer, because we love to eat—and summer is a great time to find food!
City raccoons are known for pillaging garbage cans in search of a tasty treat. Some of my cousins even reached inside Samantha’s porch door to get to a trash bag once! But we don’t only eat junk food. We love to climb trees, where there are lots of yummy delicacies to be found: nuts, berries, seeds, and birds’ eggs! You may have heard that raccoons sometimes dunk their food in water before eating it, but it’s not because we’re scared of germs—it’s because getting our food wet helps us to use our sense of touch to identify it!
We raccoons are omnivorous, which means we eat plants as well as smaller animals, like frogs and fish. In the fall we fatten ourselves up to prepare for winter, when food is harder to find. Then we can worry less about foraging, and spend more time focusing on one of life’s greatest pleasures—long winter naps!
If you’d like to know more, check out this article from National Geographic Kids, and be sure to look for great book recommendations and some ideas for summer fun fit for raccoons!
Read: Any book featuring raccoons, such as one from this list
Board Books
You Are a Raccoon! By Laurie Ann Thompson, illustrated by Jay Fleck. A super cute board book that follows a baby raccoon from birth to adulthood. It includes a section with racoon facts and activity ideas at the back.
Raccoon Rambles: City by Jo Byatt. A very simple board book for the youngest readers shows the different things Raccoon does around the city. The last spread is an opportunity to review what happened in the book.
Picture Books
Kitty by Rebecca Jordan-Glum. A silly book about a case of mistaken identity and a very messy house!
The Robber Raccoon by Lou Kuenzler, illustrated by Julia Woolf is a silly rhyming romp about a raccoon on a burglary spree.
Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin. Raccoon can count the ways he loves pizza–gooey, cheesy, sweet tomato…BUT, someone is always chasing him away from the pizza with a broom! Raccoon decides to plan a secret pizza party instead–don’t tell anyone!!
Remmy’s Sticky Situation by Cindy Lynn Sawyer, Illustrated by Jasmine Wall. Remmy Raccoon loves fair food from a dumpster, but like a good raccoon, he washes it before he eats it. Yet his favorite sticky snack, cotton candy, keeps disappearing! Did his friends take it? Forgiveness and friendship help him as he discovers the truth.
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, illustrated by Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak. Chester Raccoon is nervous about starting school, so Momma gives him a special secret gift: a kissing hand! She kisses his palm and tells him to hold it to his cheek whenever he’s feeling lonely.
Chapter Book
Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon by Kate DiCamillo. This is the second book in the Tales from Deckwoo Drive series. It’s a short, sweet, and funny with a theme of facing your fears.
Middle Grade
Rascal by Sterling North. This autobiographical tale set in the early 1900’s is the story of a young boy who befriends a raccoon, Rascal. Rascal creates mischief and fun during a time when the boy feels distant from his father and saddened by the loss of his mother.
A Girl, A Raccoon, and the Midnight Moon by Karen Romano Young. When the head of a statue goes missing from the library, young Pearl is angry. She is even more upset when this incident leads to talk of shutting down the library. Pearl won’t let that happen! With the help of literate raccoons, Pearl will do everything she can to save the library.
Note: Some links will take you to the Read, Discuss, Do bookshop.org storefront. Purchasing a book from the storefront will support independent bookstores and help maintain Read, Discuss, Do at no additional cost to you.
Discuss:
Have you ever seen a raccoon?
What is the most interesting fact about raccoons?
If you had a pet raccoon, what would you name it?
Do you ever wash your food before you eat it, like a raccoon often does?
What is your favorite book featuring raccoons?
Do: Try one of these raccoon-approved summer activities
Make a craft based on The Kissing Hand. Gather some paper, scissors, and a glue stick. Scrapbooking paper or card stock work best, but construction paper will work fine too. Trace your hand on paper, then cut it out. Glue the hand onto a contrasting sheet of paper. Cut out a red or pink heart small enough to fit on your palm. Glue the heart onto the the paper hand. Give your art project to someone you love!
No colorful paper on hand? Use finger paints or crayons instead. Have a pool party, like the raccoons in this video.
After reading a raccoon book, act out the story.
Have a raccoon-inspired picnic under a tree. Some good food options are fruits, nuts, and boiled eggs. Be sure to bring a raccoon book along!
Listen to some raccoon tunes!
I’m a Raccoon by Nancy Steward. You’ll find the link to play the song at the very top of the page. If you scroll down, you can watch a video of Nancy performing the song with a puppet!
Raccoon’s Got a Busy Tail - Pete Seeger
Draw a raccoon! If you’re not sure how to draw a raccoon, download this step-by-step tutorial:
You can also download this week’s coloring page!
Thank you, Mr. Raccoon, for joining us today!
We hope you are enjoying our Wild Summer so far! If you share about your experiences with the Summer Challenge on social media, use the hashtag #RDDSummerChallenge2025 so we can see it. You can also tag us or message us on Instagram, leave a comment on this post, or reply to this email. We’d love to know about how you are pairing books with summer fun!
Also, don’t forget to sign up to be eligible for the giveaway at the end of the summer!
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Raccoons are such a fun topic! My five and three year old think they are funny, and I know they would love "Kitty." It looks like it has some giggle-worthy shenanigans. Thanks for the recommendation!