The Porcupine

Alice Kidd is an editor with The New Catalyst editorial collective in
Lillooet, B.C.

The Porcupine is a simple, colorful book for young children. The short
two lines per page text provides a surprising amount of information in a
fun way. If the illustrations supported the text it would be an
excellent book.

Unfortunately the porcupine is presented in the pictures as a
two-legged, human-type animal. Lounging at the beach, playing cards,
sleeping in beds, and celebrating a birthday with a cake are not the
actions described by the text. The illustrator’s talents would have
been better used rendering images of the animal in its natural habitat.
I enjoyed the book, but was able to regard the pictures as a bit of a
joke. Young children, leafing through the book on their own, would learn
little about porcupines from the pictures.