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Petunia #6
Petunia I Love You
Raccoon does indeed love Petunia, the goose, but only insofar as she will make him a good, juicy meal. With wits and luck Petunia manages to elude Raccoon and save his life as well.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published October 12, 1965
About the author
Roger Duvoisin
213 books26 followersRoger Antoine Duvoisin (August 28, 1900 – June 1980) was a Swiss-born American writer and illustrator, best known for children's picture books. He won the 1948 Caldecott Medal for picture books and in 1968 he was a highly commended runner-up for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award for children's illustrators.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 21, 2021
A hungry raccoon fakes romantic interest in Petunia in hopes of a delicious goosey feast, but our gal outsmarts him every step of the way. I started to feel a little sorry for the poor guy; he has worse luck than Wile E. Coyote in his attempts to snag a bird. It's good Raccoon never heard of ACME Corp, or he'd probably be dead.
November 7, 2018
Fewer depths than the other Petunia books that I've read, but still a rich and discussable and *fun* read. We've seen this trope of the innocent accidentally outwitting the carnivore before, but never quite like this. Check it out from your library if it hasn't gotten weeded yet!
March 24, 2010
This is the second book we've read about Petunia the goose. I think I like this one better; she's not quite as much of a ninny as in the first, but she's still fairly naive. Our girls liked the story, especially that the raccoon kept trying to trick Petunia and ended up with the short end of the stick each time (kind of like Wile E. Coyote with the Roadrunner.) And I thought the expressions on the raccoon were great.
August 6, 2019
Hmm. How to review this?
Sweet Petunia the goose is oblivious to Raccoon's malevolent intentions when he befriends her. Through a series of mishaps, his attempts to gobble her up are foiled at every turn. Until finally Raccoon realises that Petunia is more valuable as a friend than a feast.
Written in 1965, the story drips with nostalgia of a time when men were men (in this case, toxic, creepy stalkers who had no control over their veracious impulses and inner-nature) and women were women (in this case, naive, probably stupid and certainly never, ever nasty even if they knew what was going on).
Interestingly though, I'm not sure it's a good thing to only accept "politically correct" stories for children, and for this reason this book remains in my library.
The tale is funny and engaging, with lots of glorious vocabulary, literary structure and tropes. It's a long story - often too long to complete in a single reading with a large group...and so is a wonderful resource for building both stamina as well as introducing multi-session reading.
Most of all though, it's a text that lends itself very well to introducing critical literacies - particularly for parents and teachers who are not yet confident in doing this. Was it OK for Raccoon to trick Petunia? How could Petunia have stood up for herself? Would all Raccoons be so tricky? Would all Geese be so silly? What would you have done differently if you were Raccoon? What about if you were Petunia? Is Raccoon doing the right thing? Why/ why not? What would you do if you saw Raccoon trying to trick Petunia? Why do you think the author wrote the story this way? Would you write it differently if you were the author?
It's long overdue that we have children's books that challenge and break traditional stereotypes - but these old ones still have an important place on the shelf. This is a book that comes from a time when stories were written based on what children enjoy (and not based on what adults think children should enjoy); before the written word was e-butchered; and where the visibility of stereotypes still offers us an opportunity to let children question the status quo around them.
Sweet Petunia the goose is oblivious to Raccoon's malevolent intentions when he befriends her. Through a series of mishaps, his attempts to gobble her up are foiled at every turn. Until finally Raccoon realises that Petunia is more valuable as a friend than a feast.
Written in 1965, the story drips with nostalgia of a time when men were men (in this case, toxic, creepy stalkers who had no control over their veracious impulses and inner-nature) and women were women (in this case, naive, probably stupid and certainly never, ever nasty even if they knew what was going on).
Interestingly though, I'm not sure it's a good thing to only accept "politically correct" stories for children, and for this reason this book remains in my library.
The tale is funny and engaging, with lots of glorious vocabulary, literary structure and tropes. It's a long story - often too long to complete in a single reading with a large group...and so is a wonderful resource for building both stamina as well as introducing multi-session reading.
Most of all though, it's a text that lends itself very well to introducing critical literacies - particularly for parents and teachers who are not yet confident in doing this. Was it OK for Raccoon to trick Petunia? How could Petunia have stood up for herself? Would all Raccoons be so tricky? Would all Geese be so silly? What would you have done differently if you were Raccoon? What about if you were Petunia? Is Raccoon doing the right thing? Why/ why not? What would you do if you saw Raccoon trying to trick Petunia? Why do you think the author wrote the story this way? Would you write it differently if you were the author?
It's long overdue that we have children's books that challenge and break traditional stereotypes - but these old ones still have an important place on the shelf. This is a book that comes from a time when stories were written based on what children enjoy (and not based on what adults think children should enjoy); before the written word was e-butchered; and where the visibility of stereotypes still offers us an opportunity to let children question the status quo around them.
April 25, 2019
I loved this book! The Raccoon cant trick Petunia! There are lots of colorful pictures and detail in the book.
January 30, 2024
A hungry racoon wants goose for dinner.
March 10, 2019
A raccoon lured an unsuspecting goose into the forest under the pretense that he loves her and would like to take her on a walk. In reality, his goal is to eat her but, all his attempts are foiled and she actually saves him several times. Eventually, he gives up trying to murder her and says that they will be best friends forever. It’s not a great way to start a friendship.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2009
All the Petunia stories we've read are wonderful, but I think this one is our favorite. A raccoon's many schemes to trap and eat Petunia return on his own head.
July 6, 2016
Childhood favorite
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews