Favorite Children’s Picture Book

A Porcupine Named Fluffy

By: Helen Lester

Illustrated by: Lynn Munsinger

Why I love this book: This book didn't win any awards. The drawings and dialogue aren't anything too spectacular. What sticks out for me is the memories I have with my children. A Porcupine Named Fluffy was given to me as a gift at my baby shower before my eldest was born. Since then, both of my children have read it with my husband and I countless times. Each time we read it, we all belly laugh. When they were toddlers, my kids loved to take turns on my lap. When I was reading the part when Fluffy meets an unfriendly rhinoceros while walking, I would bop them up and down at all the big punctuation points. The theme of the book, self-acceptance, means a lot to me, too! For that, this book is a favorite children's picture book. 

Favorite quote: "And Fluffy didn't mind being Fluffy anymore -- even though he wasn't."

Evaluation using Vardell (2014) and Horning (2010) Criteria:

1. "Characters...should be convincing and credible with personalities that emerge as interesting and distinctive" (Vardell, 2014, p. 59).

In A Porcupine Named Fluffy we meet "a very large rhinoceros" who is looking to start trouble: "Grrr!" said the rhinoceros. "I'm going to give you a rough time." It is convincing to the reader that a rhinoceros, especially a very large one, would be able to give a small animal like Fluffy, a porcupine, a rough time. This rhinoceros becomes distinctive when we learn that, like Fluffy, he is not aptly named - his name is Hippo. Both animals share a laugh when learning each other's name which further adds credibility to the characters this is especially because we as the readers laugh along with them.

2. "The illustrations help create the mood of the story, as well as the pacing and tension from page to page" (Vardell, 2014, p. 61).

When we meet the "very large rhinoceros," he is standing in the way of Fluffy's path with all four feet visible and planted to the ground. Munsinger, the illustrator, has us meet the rhinoceros from the point of view of Fluffy, further amplifying the tension this moment of intimidation creates. 

3. "There should always be some conflict that grows out of a situation that is believable and relevant to the young reader" (Vardell, 2014, p. 59)

Fluffy is a porcupine. From the start of the book to the climax, we see him grapple with their name wondering why he was named Fluffy when he seems to be anything but. "Soon there came a time when Fluffy began to doubt that he was fluffy. He first became suspicious when he backed into a door and stuck fast. That was not a very fluffy thing to do." 

Many young readers can identify personally or culturally (through watching TV, having older siblings, or reading in books) with learning to be ok with something about themselves that they just can't seem to understand. Some issues with identity can be with their name (like in A Porcupine Named Fluffy) but also can be heavier like divorce or not being able to sit still like other classmates - anything that can make a kid feel like they stand out. 

4. "Rhythm: Note the variation in line lengths, which, as in poetry, gives the reader clues as to how to read the words" (Horning, 2010, p. 89-90). 

Lester varies the length of sentences throughout the entirety of A Porcupine Named Fluffy leading to a nice rhythmic flow and easy reading. The best example of this, though, is when Fluffy learns of the rhinoceros's name: "Hippo. A rhinoceros named hippo. Fluffy smiled. He giggled. Then he laughed out loud. He jiggled and slapped his knees. He howled with laughter. 'A rhinoceros named Hippo!' Fluffy cried." The reader can feel the momentum and progression of Fluffy's laughter from smile to full-blown howling through the rhythm of the text Lester creates. 

5. "Visual elements are the components an artist uses in creating a picture: line, shape, texture, color, and value. Most or all of these elements are combined in any one picture; however, often one element will dominate an artist's work" (Horning, 2010, p. 96). 

Munsinger predominately uses line, shape, and color to illustrate A Porcupine Named Fluffy. The lines are both straight and curved but thin. They serve to outline the illustrations and to give them texture - we see this in the rhinoceros to help depict its leathery skin and in Fluffy's quills to highlight their pointy-ness. The shapes are two-dimensional and are "a clear representation of an object (realism)" (p. 96). There is no doubt in the reader that Fluffy is a porcupine and that Hippo is a rhinoceros and that they are outside walking along a path in an environment that looks natural to both of these animals.