School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Walking quickly and thinking "brave thoughts," a young skunk makes its way home through a dimly lit forest and is startled by different woodland creatures. The rhyming story turns out to be a counting book, starting with "1 masked face" (a raccoon hiding in the shadows) and ending with "10 stars [that] twinkle while I sleep." After being frightened by ghosts (owls), trappers (spiders), witches (porcupines), and pirates (flying squirrels), the skunk sees "6 strong arms" and gets ready to raise its tail in self-defense, but soon realizes that the limbs belong to family members. Now safe, the traveler relates the tale to an appreciative audience of animals. Bowers creates a pleasant-looking protagonist with a fluffy crown of white fur and a lush white tail. The woods are filled with velvet greens and chocolate browns, reassuring colors that show youngsters that the landscape might be dark, but certainly isn't scary. Pair this story with Lauren Thompson's Little Quack's Bedtime (S & S, 2005) for some tranquil sleepy-time fun.-Lisa Gangemi Kropp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
When a little skunk hurries home through the dark forest, a robber, two ghosts, three trappers (or so the skunk thinks), and so on frighten him. The engaging illustrations in dark greens and browns reveal the menaces to be one raccoon, two owls, three spiders, etc. The rhymes are bouncy and the tale reassuring, but the occasional outsize words scattered throughout the text are disruptive. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A little skunk tromps through the deep, dark woods thinking brave thoughts to steel himself against (imagined) dangers. First he encounters one masked robber (a raccoon), then two howling ghosts (owls) and on up to the number six--when his family arrives. They take him to a party where he tells his tale seven times to all his woodland friends, the erstwhile spooky folk. After a dance with eight fireflies and nine big hugs, he sacks out under ten watchful stars. It might take practice to get through Crum's alliterative, rhymed text while reading aloud, but audiences--be they storytime or bedtime--will enjoy tiny skunk's bold story. Some might be slightly confused since the woodland friends never look menacing. Even in shadow the porcupines are too cute to be thought of as witches, and the flying squirrels are none too piratical. Bowen's pudgy, bead-eyed critters could be considered at odds with the text, but this makes the whole package more useful for explaining away irrational fears. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
