Porcupine Cupid

PreS-Gr 1—Porcupine is excited about Valentine's Day and wants everyone in the forest to experience true love. Unfortunately, she has a rather painful way of playing Cupid. She pokes them with a quill before giving them good wishes. The response is not quite what she expects; they are angry. After a bit of reflection, she has another plan, and anonymously posts a meeting notice to discuss the "Poke-y Porcupine Problem." There, while complaining (the complaints framed in wonderfully groan-worthy puns), all the animals find true love, in pairings of same gender and opposite. Loose and goofy digital illustrations complement to the sprightly narrative. VERDICT More LBGTQ+ Valentine's books, please! For larger collections and those with healthy holiday circulations.—Lisa Lehmuller, Paul Cuffee Maritime Charter Sch., Providence

Porcupine, who has round glasses, pink-tipped quills, and a red, heart-shaped nose, is excited on Valentine's Day, using one of his quills to play Cupid to the forest's anthropomorphic animals. After poking various animals, frustrating the forest's denizens, Porcupine affixes a sign to a tree: "Town hall meeting to discuss the poke-y porcupine problem." The meeting unites four couples, and Porcupine is appeased, before he receives a prickly surprise of his own. The narrative regrettably seems to imply an ends-justifies-the-means message about consent vis-à-vis love, with many animals telling Porcupine "Don't!" and "Stop!" throughout, but puns enliven June's text ("Porcupine's heart was set on fanning the flames of love," reads one page, as Porcupine pricks a bear roasting marshmallows over a campfire), and expressive digital illustrations by Richmond hold cartoonish appeal. Ages 4-8. (Dec.)