Bea Reviews Chester Raccoon and the Almost Perfect Sleepover by Audrey Penn & Illustrated by Barbara Leonard Gibson

Series: The Kissing Hand Series
Publisher: Tanglewood
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 16th, 2017
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Tanglewood | Barnes & Noble
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Blurb from goodreads:

“Are we almost there?” Chester Raccoon asked his mother. Chester is excited about going to his very first sleepover. After his mother drops him off at Pepper Opossum’s house with a Kissing Hand in his palm, Chester and his animal friends have a long day of playing games and eating snacks. But when the animals decide to bed down, Chester can’t go to sleep. While his Kissing ...more

My Thoughts:

Chester Raccoon is excited about attending his first overday (a sleep over for nocturnal animals). His mother gives him their traditional kiss and off he goes. He has fun with his other friends, and they have a busy time. Chester is a gracious guest, even helping his host. His good manners are subtly done, mostly, and provides a gentle lesson to readers. After a delightful, and sometimes stinky day due to a skunk who stinky puffs easily, with his friends, Chester tries to settle down for a good day's rest but finds he's homesick and goes home early.

 "Chester Raccoon and the Almost Perfect Sleepover" offers humor, delightful illustrations, and a sweet but overly long story about a fear faced by many children. The author spent too much time detailing everything they did and ate during the sleepover, it got a bit tedious. But the message of missing family and being afraid is nicely done. There's no shaming, no fussing, just simple acceptance of and respect for Chester's feelings. I can get behind that message. This book would work for older 3 year olds, on up.