Hunter's Best Friend at School

Elliott, Laura Malone

ISBN 10: 006000231X ISBN 13: 9780060002312

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2002

Synopsis

Hunter and Stripe are best friends. This young raccoon pair loves to do everything together, like dress in striped sweaters, read the same stories, and even eat the same lunch -- a crawfish sandwich, huckleberries, and milk. But when Stripe arrives one day at school in a mischief-making mood and starts stirring up trouble in Mr. Ringtail's class, should Hunter follow along?

Laura Malone Elliott and Lynn Munsinger introduce two delightful pals who will entertain young children as they also provide an important look at peer pressure and first friendships.

About this title

About the Author:

Laura Malone Elliott is the author of the acclaimed World War II novel Under a War-torn Sky, winner of the Borders Original Voices Award for Young Adult Literature and a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People (NCSS/ALA). She is also the author of the picture book Hunter’s Best Friend at School, winner of the IRA/CBC Children’s Choice Award and the Oppenheim Gold Award, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger. She lives in Virginia with her husband and their two children.

From Publishers Weekly:

Best friends and school join in Elliott's (Under a War-Torn Sky) tale for a kid-pleasing combination and Munsinger's (The Teeny Tiny Ghost) comical, sometimes poignant illustrations give this picture book a double draw. Young raccoons Hunter and Stripe are fast friends who like "all the same things" and display contagious smiles as they make the rounds at recess, share a beloved book and munch on their mutually favorite lunch of crawfish sandwiches, huckleberries and milk. But one day Stripe comes to school "in a mischief-making mood" and goads Hunter into following his bad example. When Hunter's mother finds out from her son that he felt compelled to follow his pal's lead since "We do everything together," she delivers the tale's gentle moral: "Being a best friend doesn't mean always following along. Sometimes being a best friend means you have to help your friend be his best self." The following day, Hunter takes her advice and successfully demonstrates a positive role model for his pal. Adults will surely appreciate the message about resisting peer pressure, but Stripe snaps into good-behavior mode a bit too speedily to be entirely credible and the story winds up on a sticky-sweet note. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 006000231X
• ISBN 13: 9780060002312
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Munsinger Lynn