#278 of 1001 · May 5, 2021

Were you ever blamed as a child for something you didn’t do? Perhaps you’d garnered a reputation for misbehavior and, the one time you weren’t to blame, no one would believe you. If so, you’ll feel for the young protagonist of @studiocastillo’s The Troublemaker. A boy, in the course of an imaginative game with his beloved stuffed stuffed raccoon, borrows his sister’s stuffed rabbit. Though he returns it, the rabbit soon goes missing again, along with the stuffed raccoon and several other important items. The boy protests his innocence, but remains under suspicion. It’s not until the next morning that he discovers the true culprit and successfully clears his own name. Through minimal text, Castillo plumbs true emotional depth, giving her main character real human flaws and a subtle but critical breakthrough of empathic understanding. Her illustrations, alternating between brightly colored images and stark silhouettes, let the reader in on the identity of the mysterious kleptomaniac long before the characters cotton on. A final thought: the title of the book contains a pleasing ambiguity, applicable as it is to both the spirited young boy and the sneak-thief. #troublemaker #raccoon #play #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #classicchildrensbooks #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks