The Skunk - Mac Barnett (Author) & Patrick McDonnell (Illustrator)


Delightfully odd, is perhaps one of the best ways I've heard to describe this unique tale of reluctant friendship between an unlikely duo.

When a skunk first appears in the tuxedoed man's doorway, it's a strange but possibly harmless occurrence. But then the man finds the skunk following him, and the unlikely pair embark on an increasingly frantic chase through the city, from the streets to the opera house to the fairground. What does the skunk want? It's not clear--but soon the man has bought a new house in a new neighborhood to escape the little creature's attention, only to find himself missing something. . .

This is a lovely tale of two characters who turn out to be rather lonely, or at least lonelier than they might think. As the man attempts to run away from the skunk in wilder and more creative ways, he doesn't realize how much he needs someone who cares enough to stick around. . . until he finally eludes the skunk and throws a party. And it is at the party where he begins to fully contemplate what it might be like to have a truly dedicated friend like the skunk. We may never truly know what the skunk wants, but it appears that he has found a connection with the man, and he simply doesn't want to lose it.

Told in the delightful and increasingly urgent words of Mac Barnett and illustrated in the trademark style of Patrick McDonnell, The Skunk will delight and confuse in equal measure, culminating in a creative story that will keep you wondering about what the heck that skunk wants for many hours after putting the book down.

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