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Frosty: A Raccoon to Remember
1974, mass market paperback reprint edition, Archway, NY. 192 pages. Great illustrations throughout. Park Ranger, Harriet Weaver, discovers an orphaned raccoon cub.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
June 23, 2020
ah, the memories of thanksgiving past... this year, the only disasters were a busted brine bag (more brine [and turkey] on floor), a broken chopper (glass on floor), and many instances of invoking the 3-second rule. 2014 is the year of cat-hair thanksgiving. but here's an oldie:
well, thanksgiving eve has just turned into the nightmare that all holidays must become before they can blossom into success stories. book avalanche? check. shelf collapse in the fridge, covering me and floor with brine? check. baby carrots somehow frozen solid? check. and then i get all tidied up and sit down to do my homework only to find that i can't get into the databases i need to do my fact check assignment. and, of course, things being what they are, that pretty much means i have zero time to get this paper done, especially if i continue to get shut out. i feel like a fucking teenage boy. c'mon, databases, give it up for me. i'm real gentle. but no luck. so i broke into the thanksgiving pinot (what, i have to make sure it's good) and it's me and the madrigals of richard thompson and homework can just take a hike for now as i ease into an evening of complete irresponsibility (which i'm not actually sure how to do, so if anyone has pointers...) i'm just going to go back in my head to a time when things were nice and carefree and i wasn't covered in orange-smelling slime. ah, the memories. this was one of my favorite books as a child - i must have read it twenty times. from it, i learned that raccoons have very expressive hands: they like to play in soap bubbles and flour, they like to make messes everywhere, but they are full of love and playfulness, and this lady actually got to keep him as a pet for a little while, which always made me want to go to the zoo and demand a wild animal of my very own. i also learned how to make a raccoon trap from this book, so it's only a matter of time before i (finally) have one of my very own, but i'm going to wait until this bad-luck spell has passed, because if i do it now, chances are the raccoon will have rabies. c'mere, pinot...
come to my blog!
well, thanksgiving eve has just turned into the nightmare that all holidays must become before they can blossom into success stories. book avalanche? check. shelf collapse in the fridge, covering me and floor with brine? check. baby carrots somehow frozen solid? check. and then i get all tidied up and sit down to do my homework only to find that i can't get into the databases i need to do my fact check assignment. and, of course, things being what they are, that pretty much means i have zero time to get this paper done, especially if i continue to get shut out. i feel like a fucking teenage boy. c'mon, databases, give it up for me. i'm real gentle. but no luck. so i broke into the thanksgiving pinot (what, i have to make sure it's good) and it's me and the madrigals of richard thompson and homework can just take a hike for now as i ease into an evening of complete irresponsibility (which i'm not actually sure how to do, so if anyone has pointers...) i'm just going to go back in my head to a time when things were nice and carefree and i wasn't covered in orange-smelling slime. ah, the memories. this was one of my favorite books as a child - i must have read it twenty times. from it, i learned that raccoons have very expressive hands: they like to play in soap bubbles and flour, they like to make messes everywhere, but they are full of love and playfulness, and this lady actually got to keep him as a pet for a little while, which always made me want to go to the zoo and demand a wild animal of my very own. i also learned how to make a raccoon trap from this book, so it's only a matter of time before i (finally) have one of my very own, but i'm going to wait until this bad-luck spell has passed, because if i do it now, chances are the raccoon will have rabies. c'mere, pinot...
come to my blog!
January 9, 2011
When I started this book I imagined the review would start with this video I had seen of an old woman who tried to shoo a raccoon off of her yard and instead the raccoon attacked her. I can't find the video though, and I'm wasting too much time now watching youtube videos of animals, so the review starts with me talking about what the review should have started with instead.
The point I would have made about the video is that, like you and me, raccoons don't like be swatted at with a broom and instead of running away like most things will, sometimes you get attacked when you go wielding a broom like some kind of sword around the neighborhood like someone out of Cerventes. It's not nice to gloss over the poor woman's pain and suffering at being attacked by what turned out to be a rabid raccoon, but it reminded me of this old woman who lived one street over from me growing up. If anyone happened to step on her yard she would come out yelling and threatening to call our parents. One day my next door neighbor blew her stoop up with some M-80's. Sometimes it's best just to let the occasional troublemaker walk across your yard as they go on their way.
What does this have to do with the book? Not much except they are both about raccoons. This is a raccoon:
[image error]
As you can see in the picture like us, they have five fingers. One of them isn't an opposable thumb though but they have almost the equivalent of little hands, and they like to grab things with their hands. Also from the picture and from the book one can say that raccoons will work pretty hard to get what they want, and get transfixed on getting their paws onto things.
I might hold the record for taking the longest to read this book ever! The book is written for someone in maybe fourth or fifth grade (maybe older, I don't know), and I think it took me five weeks to make my way through it. I read a lot of other books during that time, but it is still a little embarrassing to take so long to read it. I could have just brought it to work on day and finished it on my commute and break, but that didn't seem like fun. Instead it was more fun to read only a chapter here and there and enjoy the cute and lovable antics of this true story of a baby raccoon and the first year that he lived with a park ranger until he left one night to return to the wild.
I was worried at first that this book would either too anthropomorphic or make light of the fact that raccoons are wild animals and wild animals aren't pets and they can possibly do things that are less than desirous:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45oye3...
You don't need to watch that news report, it's about a different old lady who got attacked by a family of raccoons. Officials think that the raccoons had been fed for sometime by neighbors and that it reduced their fear to people. I think it's possible the old lady came running at them with a broom or something and the raccoons attacked. Not to say the raccoons are in the right but this is what can happen when you stop treating wild animals as wild animals and instead treat them as play things......
(who is to blame for this attack? Ben Harrison is. Yep, that's right. This happened on his watch in Lakeland Florida. Ben, why weren't you protecting this older woman? Where were you Ben? There are vicious packs of raccoons out there and it's got to be you who stands between them and the old women of Lakeland!)
Another news report is about a nine month old baby who was attacked in her crib by two raccoons that officials believe were kept in the house as pets. I'm not going to link to it, because it's a boring news clip, but raccoons, like most wild animals, aren't operating with our set of values. It looks like a lot of fun to play with raccoons but it could turn ugly pretty quickly I'd imagine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTRCyp...
(watch this video, it's pretty neat)
I understand wanting to have wild animals as pets. I'm so envious of this man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvfJs1... , and one night I could wake up with my face ripped from the rest of my body and it wouldn't be anyones fault but my own.
After reading this book I can't imagine ever wanting to let a baby raccoon live in my house. Frosty sounds insanely cute and does lots of adorable things, but he also sounds like an almost constant troublemaker. Mischief is committed in just about every situation that Frosty engages in. Trying to paint the house, Frosty wants to climb on your back and help. Have a pack of cigarettes, Frosty enjoys rolling them between his paws until they fall apart. Want to keep him out of a room? Won't happen raccoons are smart enough and have agile enough paws to figure out how to open doors. On top of these few examples apparently raccoons are pretty affectionate (which I never thought of before, but it makes sense, briefly I had a pet rat and she was very affectionate which at the time was very surprising, since I'd had gerbils before which showed no affection at all, unless if constantly being bitten and shit on counts for affection) and want attention paid to them. This means don't even try to ignore them because they will couple up the need for affection with the penchant for trouble and make sure that they stay the center of attention.
From this book it seems adorable to have a raccoon living around the house, but also so so tiring.
The last bit of warning about having a raccoon as a pet is that if you have a dog it's possible they will quickly become more than friends. This isn't mentioned in Frosty, but if Frosty hadn't been allowed to go off on his own when mating season came around this could have been an additional adults only chapter to the book.
The point I would have made about the video is that, like you and me, raccoons don't like be swatted at with a broom and instead of running away like most things will, sometimes you get attacked when you go wielding a broom like some kind of sword around the neighborhood like someone out of Cerventes. It's not nice to gloss over the poor woman's pain and suffering at being attacked by what turned out to be a rabid raccoon, but it reminded me of this old woman who lived one street over from me growing up. If anyone happened to step on her yard she would come out yelling and threatening to call our parents. One day my next door neighbor blew her stoop up with some M-80's. Sometimes it's best just to let the occasional troublemaker walk across your yard as they go on their way.
What does this have to do with the book? Not much except they are both about raccoons. This is a raccoon:
[image error]
As you can see in the picture like us, they have five fingers. One of them isn't an opposable thumb though but they have almost the equivalent of little hands, and they like to grab things with their hands. Also from the picture and from the book one can say that raccoons will work pretty hard to get what they want, and get transfixed on getting their paws onto things.
I might hold the record for taking the longest to read this book ever! The book is written for someone in maybe fourth or fifth grade (maybe older, I don't know), and I think it took me five weeks to make my way through it. I read a lot of other books during that time, but it is still a little embarrassing to take so long to read it. I could have just brought it to work on day and finished it on my commute and break, but that didn't seem like fun. Instead it was more fun to read only a chapter here and there and enjoy the cute and lovable antics of this true story of a baby raccoon and the first year that he lived with a park ranger until he left one night to return to the wild.
I was worried at first that this book would either too anthropomorphic or make light of the fact that raccoons are wild animals and wild animals aren't pets and they can possibly do things that are less than desirous:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45oye3...
You don't need to watch that news report, it's about a different old lady who got attacked by a family of raccoons. Officials think that the raccoons had been fed for sometime by neighbors and that it reduced their fear to people. I think it's possible the old lady came running at them with a broom or something and the raccoons attacked. Not to say the raccoons are in the right but this is what can happen when you stop treating wild animals as wild animals and instead treat them as play things......
(who is to blame for this attack? Ben Harrison is. Yep, that's right. This happened on his watch in Lakeland Florida. Ben, why weren't you protecting this older woman? Where were you Ben? There are vicious packs of raccoons out there and it's got to be you who stands between them and the old women of Lakeland!)
Another news report is about a nine month old baby who was attacked in her crib by two raccoons that officials believe were kept in the house as pets. I'm not going to link to it, because it's a boring news clip, but raccoons, like most wild animals, aren't operating with our set of values. It looks like a lot of fun to play with raccoons but it could turn ugly pretty quickly I'd imagine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTRCyp...
(watch this video, it's pretty neat)
I understand wanting to have wild animals as pets. I'm so envious of this man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvfJs1... , and one night I could wake up with my face ripped from the rest of my body and it wouldn't be anyones fault but my own.
After reading this book I can't imagine ever wanting to let a baby raccoon live in my house. Frosty sounds insanely cute and does lots of adorable things, but he also sounds like an almost constant troublemaker. Mischief is committed in just about every situation that Frosty engages in. Trying to paint the house, Frosty wants to climb on your back and help. Have a pack of cigarettes, Frosty enjoys rolling them between his paws until they fall apart. Want to keep him out of a room? Won't happen raccoons are smart enough and have agile enough paws to figure out how to open doors. On top of these few examples apparently raccoons are pretty affectionate (which I never thought of before, but it makes sense, briefly I had a pet rat and she was very affectionate which at the time was very surprising, since I'd had gerbils before which showed no affection at all, unless if constantly being bitten and shit on counts for affection) and want attention paid to them. This means don't even try to ignore them because they will couple up the need for affection with the penchant for trouble and make sure that they stay the center of attention.
From this book it seems adorable to have a raccoon living around the house, but also so so tiring.
The last bit of warning about having a raccoon as a pet is that if you have a dog it's possible they will quickly become more than friends. This isn't mentioned in Frosty, but if Frosty hadn't been allowed to go off on his own when mating season came around this could have been an additional adults only chapter to the book.
September 29, 2013
Frosty the raccoon is a baby "coon" with impulse control concerns. He frolics in a campground with rangers. The self-described "lady ranger" who wrote the book, Ranger Harriet says that she prayed to Jesus to see if the Lord would allow Frosty to live with humans and provide campground shows with the other "coons." The rangers describe how to turn on headlights and bang pots and pans to draw raccoons to the campground to provide a Big Raccoon Show. Personally, I would say that's too much work. Just spread some rotting sardines around your tent. Bam! Instant Adorable Furry Coon Show. The entire time, this lady ranger seems to have misplaced her medications, because she eats, sleeps, talks to and yes, even beats--the baby raccoon like its a human child (back then you could beat children). She beats the raccoon again and again, admits to "feeling ashamed" and beats him again!! This sort of thing is completely wack! Clearly, the advice to draw out wild animals to put on campground shows is the cultural product of a very, very, very different, bygone time, lol! My biggest complaint with this novel is not the extraneous and over-the-top anthropomorphizing that converts a poop-eating, disease-riddled, garbage eater into a cuddly, stuffed-animal, Teddy Ruxpin-like ragamuffin--I love that! It isn't the gross dereliction of duty of national rangers, openly exploiting small, furry mammals to put on silly minstrel shows for bored campers--I love that! It isn't the amateurish writing, the sentimentalism thicker than molasses, the prayers to Jesus to sort out a relationship between a "lady ranger" and her "coon."--that creeps me out...but I love that! It isn't the skin-tingling use of the word "coon" over and over again--I love that! No, friends. My sole objection is the name. Frosty? Frosty? Really? Come on! Every self-respecting critter-lover knows that every raccoon MUST be called either "Rascal" or "Bandit." No other name is acceptable. Clearly, this alone marks the book's author as a total fraud in the lovable critter/fish-out-of-water department.
November 29, 2015
Oh Frosty, you scamp!!
I got this book and was like,
OK, it's a raccoon .. where can we possibly go with this ...
Where can we not?!
Honestly, I sorta wished I had a baby raccoon at some points.
Then I remembered : It's a raccoon.
Harriet is a park ranger who ... never says it, but I think really wanted babies
So I hope at some point she reached her full potential because her whole time with Frosty, Frosty is a substitute baby .. who gets himself into some serious hijinks.
She feeds him with a bottle, coos to him, snuggles him, teaches him, and most importantly : thinks "paddling" him (that's right, spanking) will have a result.
And boy oh boy, she paddles him a lot
To the point that I temporarily thought "Uh... is this like, illegal?"
But her absolute cheery disposition and undeterred faith that raccoons are in fact, one of the smartest animals ever (maybe up there with dolphins and chimps), makes this a pretty entertaining read.
Instead of seeing plain old raccoon eyes, Harriet always sees a 'merry sparkle of love and curiosity' in Frosty.
Instead of thinking 'Hey, this raccoon is totally trashing my friends house', Harriet sees it as "Frosty is exploring and learning and being an adorable scamp".
Oh Frosty .... Of particular hilarity is when Frosty finds the toilet. And then when Harriet leaves him all day with the toilet. Let's just say, the Redwood Forest had a temporary raccoon induced drought.
I got this book and was like,
OK, it's a raccoon .. where can we possibly go with this ...
Where can we not?!
Honestly, I sorta wished I had a baby raccoon at some points.
Then I remembered : It's a raccoon.
Harriet is a park ranger who ... never says it, but I think really wanted babies
So I hope at some point she reached her full potential because her whole time with Frosty, Frosty is a substitute baby .. who gets himself into some serious hijinks.
She feeds him with a bottle, coos to him, snuggles him, teaches him, and most importantly : thinks "paddling" him (that's right, spanking) will have a result.
And boy oh boy, she paddles him a lot
To the point that I temporarily thought "Uh... is this like, illegal?"
But her absolute cheery disposition and undeterred faith that raccoons are in fact, one of the smartest animals ever (maybe up there with dolphins and chimps), makes this a pretty entertaining read.
Instead of seeing plain old raccoon eyes, Harriet always sees a 'merry sparkle of love and curiosity' in Frosty.
Instead of thinking 'Hey, this raccoon is totally trashing my friends house', Harriet sees it as "Frosty is exploring and learning and being an adorable scamp".
Oh Frosty .... Of particular hilarity is when Frosty finds the toilet. And then when Harriet leaves him all day with the toilet. Let's just say, the Redwood Forest had a temporary raccoon induced drought.
March 28, 2009
According to my diary, at the age of 12, I read this book. I know I was in love with all things animal related, so I am sure I must have enjoyed this at that time.
Read
October 19, 2025Frosty, you bastard. You’ll always have a place in my heart
August 6, 2016
March 5 was the birthday of a friend. I had long planned to begin a book blog. Fulfilling the birthday wish of a friend seemed a really good time to finally get it started.
‘Nathan asked his friends to write a review of a book that they enjoyed reading. I decided to base my review on a favorite book from my childhood. I recently had the pleasure of re-reading the book. I enjoyed the re-visitation. The book is Frosty: A Raccoon to Remember by Harriet E. Weaver.
Frosty is a whimsical (and largely out of doors) account which begins, as these tales sometimes do, with sadness. Frosty is the tale of a baby raccoon that had been orphaned due to a ruinous fire in California’s Big Basin Redwood Park. To Frosty’s great fortune, a female forest ranger (Harriet E. Weaver, the author of the book) adopted Frosty and thus begins the telling of the stories of their life, together. Sometimes hilarious (and at other times exceptionally tender) I can honestly say that some of the situations created by Frosty will stay in the memory of a person for over 37 years. I first read this book when I was 10 years old. During the many years, since, I have often thought about various scenes (and even exact sentences) of the book. Memorable? You bet.
I think that I found the book so interesting because in the 1970s there were so few female park rangers. Hearing (from a feminine perspective) Frosty’s story in the words of a woman that not only held a unique working position but that she also wrote about her experiences with Frosty was very inspiring to me as a young girl. I was frequently found outside, up a tree, reading my books. I was then, as I am now, an avid fan of animals. The more unique the animal, the better in my book…so Frosty: A Raccoon to Remember was probably destined to become a favorite book of mine just because of the occupation of the author. I found her memorable style of writing very pleasing. As a young girl that dreamed of being a writer–and owning a raccoon–Ms. Weaver delivered.
Anyone fascinated by animals, people who share their lives with animals, dreamers of outdoor adventures, fans of camping and those that enjoy reading about simpler, more innocent, days will enjoy this book. Part Born Free, part Rascal…Frosty will steal your heart.
And you’ll never look at Borax, throat lozenges, chickens or Mexican hot peppers the same way, again.
I promise.
‘Nathan asked his friends to write a review of a book that they enjoyed reading. I decided to base my review on a favorite book from my childhood. I recently had the pleasure of re-reading the book. I enjoyed the re-visitation. The book is Frosty: A Raccoon to Remember by Harriet E. Weaver.
Frosty is a whimsical (and largely out of doors) account which begins, as these tales sometimes do, with sadness. Frosty is the tale of a baby raccoon that had been orphaned due to a ruinous fire in California’s Big Basin Redwood Park. To Frosty’s great fortune, a female forest ranger (Harriet E. Weaver, the author of the book) adopted Frosty and thus begins the telling of the stories of their life, together. Sometimes hilarious (and at other times exceptionally tender) I can honestly say that some of the situations created by Frosty will stay in the memory of a person for over 37 years. I first read this book when I was 10 years old. During the many years, since, I have often thought about various scenes (and even exact sentences) of the book. Memorable? You bet.
I think that I found the book so interesting because in the 1970s there were so few female park rangers. Hearing (from a feminine perspective) Frosty’s story in the words of a woman that not only held a unique working position but that she also wrote about her experiences with Frosty was very inspiring to me as a young girl. I was frequently found outside, up a tree, reading my books. I was then, as I am now, an avid fan of animals. The more unique the animal, the better in my book…so Frosty: A Raccoon to Remember was probably destined to become a favorite book of mine just because of the occupation of the author. I found her memorable style of writing very pleasing. As a young girl that dreamed of being a writer–and owning a raccoon–Ms. Weaver delivered.
Anyone fascinated by animals, people who share their lives with animals, dreamers of outdoor adventures, fans of camping and those that enjoy reading about simpler, more innocent, days will enjoy this book. Part Born Free, part Rascal…Frosty will steal your heart.
And you’ll never look at Borax, throat lozenges, chickens or Mexican hot peppers the same way, again.
I promise.
February 22, 2022
Anyone dreaming of keeping a raccoon as a pet should read this book. It will cure them of the idea.
Harriet Weaver was the first female ranger and only female one for twenty years in the California State Park system. She gave campfire talks and led hikes in the Big Basin Redwoods Park. One day a young boy brought an orphaned raccoon to her. And Frosty invaded her life for the next seven months.
Raccoons are intelligent, curious, inquisitive and demanding. Frosty was also very spoiled. His escapades range from annoying to infuriating to scary to hilarious.
This book is written at a time when park visitors were encouraged to feed the wildlife. The practice is now discouraged as it harms the wildlife and is potentially dangerous for the visitors.
The book is fun reading. I definitely never ever want a pet raccoon.
Harriet Weaver was the first female ranger and only female one for twenty years in the California State Park system. She gave campfire talks and led hikes in the Big Basin Redwoods Park. One day a young boy brought an orphaned raccoon to her. And Frosty invaded her life for the next seven months.
Raccoons are intelligent, curious, inquisitive and demanding. Frosty was also very spoiled. His escapades range from annoying to infuriating to scary to hilarious.
This book is written at a time when park visitors were encouraged to feed the wildlife. The practice is now discouraged as it harms the wildlife and is potentially dangerous for the visitors.
The book is fun reading. I definitely never ever want a pet raccoon.
October 25, 2023
I read this book to my 5 and 7 year old and we all did honestly enjoy it together. And maybe reading it silently to myself would have bumped this up to a 4 star, but reading this aloud was kind of a burden just because of the immense amount of description that went into this book. It just made some parts unnecessarily long, albeit serene and poetic. The antics of the coon were cute and hilarious and made my kids laugh multiple times; and the tellings of the bond between animal and human were heart warming. I also LOVED that this was based off of a true story.
August 10, 2011
this book is the bomb, i just read it after finding it at my friend's house. My only complaint is that she blatantly encourages feeding people food to raccoons in big basin! this is just not ok!
otherwise the book is totally adorable and i loved the ending.
frosty is so adorable.
otherwise the book is totally adorable and i loved the ending.
frosty is so adorable.
June 11, 2019
Touching and filled with the good humored silliness of raccoon shenanigans.
I've always found raccoons to be one of the most entertaining creatures on the planet. They are so clever, yet so goofy. However I'd never want one as a pet, mostly because they belong in the wild but also because they get into EVERYTHING.
While Frosty was a cute little guy, he definitely solidified that belief, but for a different reason. I would have the hardest time saying goodbye. :(
Weaver never should have "paddled" Frosty, and she definitely should have raccoon-proofed her house to eliminate potential dangers, but overall you can tell how much she loved him. Maybe a little too much. She anthropomorphized in a detrimental way.
I just hope that he lived a long and healthy life and wasn't too friendly with people or dogs who might be dangerous.
I've always found raccoons to be one of the most entertaining creatures on the planet. They are so clever, yet so goofy. However I'd never want one as a pet, mostly because they belong in the wild but also because they get into EVERYTHING.
While Frosty was a cute little guy, he definitely solidified that belief, but for a different reason. I would have the hardest time saying goodbye. :(
Weaver never should have "paddled" Frosty, and she definitely should have raccoon-proofed her house to eliminate potential dangers, but overall you can tell how much she loved him. Maybe a little too much. She anthropomorphized in a detrimental way.
I just hope that he lived a long and healthy life and wasn't too friendly with people or dogs who might be dangerous.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2022
I give very few books a 5 star rating but this one gets it.
I read about Frosty in elementary school and I loved every minute of reading it. It definitely was a contributing factor in developing my love of reading - and of loving animals. I’m now 67 years old and I still have my original copy. I recently read it to 2 little ones in my life and I’m happy to say that they loved hearing about the little scamp and his little pat-pats with those little hands. Worth sharing with the little ones in your life!
I read about Frosty in elementary school and I loved every minute of reading it. It definitely was a contributing factor in developing my love of reading - and of loving animals. I’m now 67 years old and I still have my original copy. I recently read it to 2 little ones in my life and I’m happy to say that they loved hearing about the little scamp and his little pat-pats with those little hands. Worth sharing with the little ones in your life!
March 5, 2018
I think that this book is a must for anybody who loves the outdoors, someone who loves animals, or is just looking for a good book to read. This book is filled with amazing accounts and recollections of Harriet E. Weaver, described in fascinating detail. I loved this book, because it brought back memories of the outdoors and the animals that inhabit them. This book was an easy 5 stars, and I recommend to anyone who likes the outdoors to read this book.
February 20, 2019
Harriet Weaver was the first female park ranger for the California State Parks. This is a short but fun story about how adopting an orphaned baby raccoon during one of her seasons at Big Basin Redwood State Park turned her life upside down but changed her heart forever. An older book and hard to find, it was one of my favorites when I was a kid, and so it was fun to re-read and remember all the funny situations and unpredictability that a raising a raccoon can bring.
May 18, 2022
I read this book as a pre-teen and loved it as a matter of fact my cover is almost off my original copy. I was able to find a hard cover on eBay and re-read this book as an adult and I still loved it. A lady ranger adopts a raccoon named Frosty. Frosty makes a lot of friends along the way as well as cause a lot chaos, but learns to love his owner Harriett. The truest test of their love is when it is tone for Frosty to be released into the wild. I recommend this for children and adults. ❤️😀
April 2, 2023
Love this book so much. I read it when I was young and remembered - and still laughed - at many of the stories for years afterward. When my kids were little, I looked for a copy but discovered it was out of print and unattainable for less than $80. But I was recently delighted to find a used, affordable copy (thank you, AbeBooks). It’s not great literature, but is a fun, uplifting, and touching story.
February 10, 2019
I picked this book up from a free bin. I thought the picture, and the title was adorable. I have to say this novel was well written, and had me in tears at the end. Whether all of the stories are 100% true or not doesn't matter. She made Frosty come to life, as if you personally knew him.
July 7, 2019
One of my all out favorites. We would listen to this in the car about a raccoon who was being brought up in the Santa Cruz mountains by a park ranger. The trouble he got into was laugh out loud fun as long as it was not happening to you.
June 1, 2025
Read this as a child and it was so wonderful, that as an adult I ordered it for our church library. Tells the story of a park ranger that finds an orphaned kit (baby raccoon) and raises him. Chock full of mischief, he gets into one scrape after another. Very heartwarming!!
August 10, 2017
when i started this i was like "oh damn the raccoons gonna die at the end" but extra star for the raccoon not dying at the end
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 20, 2020
I loved this book. Very _My Side of the Mountain_-esque. Didn't want it to end. 😭🦝
November 10, 2020
If you enjoy Sterling North and his book Rascal you should read this book. It is not just about an adorable raccoon but about nature in northern and southern California.
October 14, 2021
I was a little kid when I read this. It broke my heart, in the end. I never was much good with goodbyes.
December 24, 2024
Adorable and old-timey sprinkled with wisdom and tons of raccoon antics
September 30, 2013
I am such a sucker for animal stories. What started as an adorably kitschy find ended up making me laugh and pissing me off at the same time. Talk about anthropomorphizing! Frosty gets spanked! He even presents his rear at one point because he knows he is going to be spanked. Yes, it's another time, yes, some of it is unbelievably funny (sometimes intentional but most times not). There's even a recollection of someone who's so unfamiliar with raccoons that she thinks he's a monkey. Really, it's a story about a wild baby raccoon who takes over the national park and the lives of the people raising him. One day he starts depleting the park's precious water supply by repeatedly flushing the toilet for a few days and making his own porcelain flowing river stream. Another time he destroys the irrigation system at a farm so the crops can't get watered. Charming? Nuh uh!!! Get this raccoon back to the wild, lady!!!! There's definitely some deprogramming to be done by the wild raccoons when this bad boy goes back to the woods.
February 12, 2017
An Absolutely adorable book, had lots of good laughs over Frosty's personality.
September 24, 2023
Excellent. As good as Summer of Monkeys. Would read again. She has a couple other books I'd be interested in. Beloved. Emotionally attaching. Endearing Raccoon. I liked the Forrest Ranger lady, but 3/4 of the way, there was a forest fire and she and a neighbor friend had to move. They got to know new people and a new home but I didn't care about that part. The part I loved was Frosty's cute little antics, you could see and feel the emotions on his face. They got to keep him 7 months and happy ending, he gets to go into the wild with his girlfriend. He's going to teach the "under-priveledged" raccoons all about human stuff. It reminded me of the story Grama told about all the little animals going to the river for a picnic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2020
This is a heartwarming story of a lovable, orphaned raccoon raised by a loving Park Ranger who also wrote the book. She describes Frosty's adventures with humor, compassion, and wit. "Frosty: A Raccoon to Remember" reminds us what a gift each one of nature's creatures is.
The book seemed to be listed under children's books; however, as an adult reading it for the first time, I found it enjoyable. The vocabulary and writing style is probably too advanced for most elementary school children, but middle school or junior high would do all right. A parent reading it aloud to younger school children would be more suitable.
The book seemed to be listed under children's books; however, as an adult reading it for the first time, I found it enjoyable. The vocabulary and writing style is probably too advanced for most elementary school children, but middle school or junior high would do all right. A parent reading it aloud to younger school children would be more suitable.
January 20, 2014
Josh loved this book and laughed throughout it at the antics of this “domesticated” orphan raccoon raised by a Park Ranger. I am not an animal-lover (I enjoy them from a distance, but I cringe at every mention of the raccoon sleeping in her bed, riding on her shoulders, playing in the toilet and tearing apart her house) so I wasn’t as crazy about the book. But I did learn a lot about raccoon habits and intelligence, and redwood trees at a CA state park near where I grew up. Josh said that Rascal is slightly better, but both books would be enjoyed by most animal-loving children.
August 28, 2015
One of my favorite books ever. I'm not sure if this is a true story but I hope it is (if it seems completely implausible to you just understand I am gullible!). The copy I read was on its way to the trash when I saved it. I absolutely adore Frosty. I don't want a raccoon for a pet but if I had the choice to be a raccoon I would totally do it. Raccoons are the best!
If anyone has proof that this is a true story please let me know!
If anyone has proof that this is a true story please let me know!
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