By: Steve Richardson
Illustrated by: Chris Dunn
Publisher: Impossible Dreams Publishing Company
Publication date: March 2018
ISBN: 978-0978642211
Reviewed by: Ellen Feld
Revision Date: March 2018
It is early fall and the children have just returned to school. During recess, Jimmy Squirrel brags that his father, who owns the largest construction company in the state, will help him build an incredible tree house. This gets everyone’s attention and everyone starts talking about what everyone could do to build a cool treehouse. Soon the kids start challenging each other and the big tree house contest begins!
Jimmy Squirrel is a bit of a boastful, but that doesn’t stop the other kids – Simon Shrew, Arnold Otter, Thomas Fox, and several others – from taking up the challenge. However, the kids are a bit surprised when the laid-back Paisley Rabbit joins the contest. She does not have a father to help her and her brother Davy is ill and stays home between hospital visits because he needs a new kidney. How could he hope to win the contest?
While the other children, with the help of their parents, are busy building their tree houses, Paisley Rabbit heads to the library to investigate. Then, as the other treehouses start to take shape, Paisley Rabbit heads into town for some important gatherings … The other kids don’t know about the get-togethers, just that Paisley Rabbit hasn’t started building their treehouse. . You certainly have no chance of winning the contest.
Paisley Rabbit and the Treehouse Contest was a funny story about a very determined bunny. The boastful Jimmy Squirrel managed to scare off some of the other contestants simply by his repeated bold statements about his tree house, but Paisley Rabbit didn’t let her friend’s comments bother her. Silently, and with great determination, he went ahead with his plan. A clever aspect of the story is that the reader is not given enough information to know exactly what the rabbit is doing. There is a little mystery behind his tree house, what is he doing? – that add an extra element of fun to the story. And no review of this book would be complete without mentioning the absolutely fantastic illustrations that accompany the tale. Chris Dunn’s watercolors are stunning and really take the story to a whole new dimension. Finally, there is a good amount of text, which makes it suitable for a “read together” for six-year-olds, and a good story for slightly older readers. The author has also provided a lesson plan that meets the Common Core State Standards on his website.