Raccoon Rambles: Beach; Park by Jo Byatt

 Child's Play makes unique, inclusive board books and I'm always interested to see what they've come up with. This series, from UK-based illustrator Jo Byatt, features a cute little raccoon having adventures in different areas. I looked at the Park and Beach titles.

In Park, raccoon feeds ducks over a bridge, pokes a stick in a mud puddle, looks at a book in a teepee of sticks, plays with a ball, swings and goes down a slide, smells flowers, gets an ice cream cone and ends up sitting quietly on a bench with a drink. The activities are accompanied by a few simple descriptive words or sounds, "Quack! Quack!" or "Thank you so much!" The last spread shows a simple circle on the grass, with arrows pointing the directions, and icons of each activity. Readers are encouraged to follow the timeline from crossing the bridge to resting on the bench at the end. The back cover of the book explains the purpose of the route map, to encourage recollection and sequencing. (I am not going to say whether or not I had to go back and read the book again to remember the activities.)

The title set on the Beach is similar, but the text is more declarative and questioning. Raccoon arrives at the beach in a wetsuit with buckets of sand and the words "At the beach." They splash in the water, "Brrr! It's cold!" listen to a shell, fly a kite, and look at shells "Where does this one fit?" Like the previous book, there's a pause with a book halfway through and it ends with packing up everything to go home. The route map is this book is set on the beach, whereas the Park title's route map is on green grass.

The other titles in this series are City and Home.

Verdict: While I prefer Child's Play's titles that picture children, especially those of Annie Kubler and Carol Thompson, this is a nice addition to board book collections and the route map is unique and a fun activity for little ones to try out.

Park ISBN: 9781786288462; Beach ISBN: 9781786288479; Board book on B&T for $6.64

Published April 2024 by Child's Play; Review copies provided by publisher; Donated to the library