Mr. Prickles: A Quill-Fated Love Story (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
Mr. Prickles wants to be friends with chipmunk, skunk, and raccoon, but his quills keep getting in the way. Mr. Prickles watches the other animals after they make it clear they do not want to play with a porcupine. Mr. Prickles gets madder each day watching the others. He then meets another porcupine and they become friends. The other animals see them and make jokes about their quills. The two porcupines realize that the skunk, chipmunk, and raccoon are not worthy friends. This story could be used for some bullying education in kindergarten and first grade. The skunk, chipmunk, and raccoon do not behave nicely toward Mr. Prickles, but Mr. Prickles also gets angry at the animals (perhaps justly). The illustrations portray Mr. Prickles emotions with colorful backgrounds. I read this book to a group of kindergarteners. I enjoyed it and I think they enjoyed it as well. But it's not one of my favorites. It didn't have as much humor as I expected. In addition, the puns pretty much go over the head of young children. Even older elementary students don't always understand puns. The kindergarten teachers enjoyed the puns though. I did think that the book is a good lead in to discussions of unkindness and anger issues. Mr. Prickles gets really angry when the other animals exclude him because he is different. It isn't until he meets Miss Pointypants that he begins to realize that letting others determine how he feels leads to unhappiness. I did find the illustrations expressive and appealing and the story does point out how nice a friendship with the right person can be. And every time I read Miss Pointypants name I felt like giggling. Overall, a nice read-a-loud.
What do You think about Mr. Prickles: A Quill-Fated Love Story (2011)?
It seems it's the year of porcupine stories. Mr. Prickles is cute, a bit bit predictable.
—ian_viana
Adorable! It shows that everyone is not alike!
—Zhel
