The Big Tree Gang

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian living in Harvard,
Massachusetts.

Brother and sister Reg and Keely and their friends Burt and Shawna like
to take hikes, play board games, fly kites, and go swimming. Although
they seem to be typical young children, the illustrations reveal that
they are in fact twin skunks, a rabbit, and an opossum. Each chapter in
the book involves a different situation or problem that the characters
have to work out. For example, the kids want to swim on a hot day but
the adults are too busy to watch them, so they decide to help Mom with
her chores so that once the work is complete she has time to come to the
river with them.

One of the nice things about this beginning reader is that it depicts
the same characters in different episodes over time. The situations
revolve around issues of getting along with each other and the adults in
their world, and the solutions work out happily for everyone. There is
an innocence and simplicity to these stories that comes from characters
that behave exactly like children, but live in an imaginary world that
is a little kinder and gentler and moves at a slower pace than the
modern world. Yet, the lessons about getting along and overcoming
differences are very much applicable to this day and age. Recommended.