Pumpkin: The Raccoon Who
Thought She Was A Dog
Author: Laura Young
Release Date: October 4, 2016
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre(s): Non-Fiction
GoodReads | Amazon
Review Spoilers: N/A
A lot of Internet social media stars have been getting their own books recently and we’re very happy to see that publishers aren’t overlooking all the cute animals that adorn our feeds. Yes, I am one of those people who is a sucker for cute animals with their own Instagram pages and Pumpkin’s Instagram has been one of my favorite accounts for a while now.
If you haven’t had the chance to come across Pumpkin before, you’re in for a treat.
Pumpkin is an orphaned raccoon living in the Bahamas with her owners and their two rescue dogs, Toffee and Oreo. As a cub she was found abandoned and injured but was luckily able to be nursed back to health. When she was unable to be returned to the wild, her caretakers made it their mission to make her life with them as comfortable and fulfilling as possible.
As you can probably tell by the subtitle of this book – The Raccoon Who Thought She Was A Dog – she has a very close relationship with her family’s dogs. Their relationship is part of what makes Pumpkin’s story so compelling. Despite their differences, Pumpkin was drawn to these two dogs who have been her best friends, protectors, and at times surrogate parents ever since.
It’s such a beautiful animal friendship. It’s like they don’t know there’s anything different about each other! Or if they do they just don’t care and love each other regardless. Much of Pumpkin’s Instagram account is filled with photos her and her two adoptive, furry siblings hanging out and having fun together.
Laura Young, her owner, decided to make the account as a way to keep track of Pumpkin’s development and to chronicle her antics for friends and family.
And the rest is, well, Internet history!
Pumpkin: The Raccoon Who Thought She Was A Dog provides a lot of that same, adorable content that you would find online. The book is full of images of Pumpkin and her doggie friends with cute little commentary to go along with them. You’ll see Pumpkin playing in the pool, reading board books, eating coconuts, and hanging out with her best friends Toffee and Oreo. There are even baby pictures of Pumpkin as well as more recent photos.
They’re all super cute photos and each one just seems even cuter than the last – if that’s even possible!
The book isn’t just photos, though.
Laura Young provides Pumpkin’s backstory and tells a handful of funny stories about some of the trouble Pumpkin has gotten into over the years. There’s a bit more about Toffee and Oreo and how they came into Laura and her husband’s lives as well. Young also provides a little bit of insight into what it’s like to own a rescue raccoon and the sort of challenges that go along with it.
It’s all very cool for fans of Pumpkin and you may learn something you didn’t before about your favorite Insta-famous raccoon!
Pumpkin: The Raccoon Who Thought She Was A Dog is a great book choice not just for Pumpkin fans, but really anyone who has a soft spot for cute animals on the Internet. With the holidays coming up, you may want to check it out – it might just make a great gift for someone you know. (Or you could just buy it for yourself and squee over how cute this raccoon and her dog friends can be like I have been doing.)
If you want to learn more about Pumpkin, you can check out her website or follow her on Instagram and Facebook!
Before I wrap this review up, I do want to give you all an update.
Pumpkin lives in the Bahamas and recently Hurricane Matthew moved through the region leaving some places completely devastated. Luckily, Pumpkin is safe and sound with her family, who have been posting updates on Instagram and directing followers to ways they can help get aid to the communities that need it most.
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