The Shindig Is Coming!
by Charise Mericle Harper; illus. by the author
Primary, Intermediate    Union Square    120 pp.
8/25    9781454955016    $16.99Paper ed.  9781454955023    $8.99e-book ed.  9781454965374    $7.99

“THE SHINDIG IS COMING! THE SHINDIG IS COMING!” Like Mouse’s proclamation to the forest animals, this engaging chapter book is sure to grab readers’ attention. The action takes place over three heavily illustrated and well-designed sections: “Hullabaloo: What Mouse Heard,” “Bumfuzzle: What Bear Said,” and “Shindig: What Opossum Missed.” After Mouse’s announcement, Raccoon calls a meeting to determine what exactly a shindig is. Porcupine, Deer, and Squirrel think “ALIENS,” Opossum faints, chicken Stan doles out his famous honey cakes. Even Mouse isn’t really sure—she heard about it from a blue jay. Eventually, Bear, dictionary in hand, arrives to provide a definition: a shindig is a party with friends. Bear gives a speech (though “Bear’s rambling talks were not a crowd favorite”), and Stan steps in with more honey cakes (it’s hard to talk with a mouth full of cakes). Opossum faints again (four times in total) and ends up missing everything. Harper’s entertaining narrative is enhanced by vibrant typography in eye-catching sizes and styles, onomatopoeia, and full-page folk art–style illustrations. This fast-paced animal story, with its lively images and text, can serve as a bridge for some newly independent readers to longer chapter books. A riotous romp that lends itself to oral storytelling mixed with amusing wordplay and infused with a folktale tone and style.

From the September/October 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.