Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon

Title: Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon

Author: Kate DiCamillo

Illustrator: Chris Van Dusen

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Year: 2015

ISBN: 978-0-7636-6886-0

Summary: Francine Poulet is an Animal Control Officer. She comes from a long line of Animal Control Officers and she has forty-seven trophies proving her expertise. One day she gets a call from Mrs. Bissinger who has a raccoon on her roof. Animal Control Officer Francine Poulet is prepared to capture this raccoon. But this raccoon is no ordinary raccoon, this one shimmers in the night like a ghost and calls out her name. Francine panics and falls off the roof of Mrs. Bissinger’s house without capturing the raccoon. She ends up in the hospital with a broken arm and a broken leg. When she recovers she quits her job. But she is lured back to capture this raccoon by Frank Endicott, a boy who has seen this raccoon and knows Francine’s history. Francine ends up capturing this raccoon and getting her job back. And now, she has Frank Endicott as her understudy.

Literary Merit: Funny expressions and situations carry the story of Grizzford County’s most famous Animal Control Officer.

Kid Appeal: Kids who have read Kate DiCcmillo’s Mercy Watson series will already know and love Francine Poulet.

 

Disclaimer: This book was nominated for the 2015 CYBILS Award in the Early Chapter Book category. This review is shared as part of the Round One Judging. It is solely my own opinion and not influenced by any other parties.