Reviewed by Emily S. (age 7), Hannah A. (age 7) and Jacob C. (age 6)
My favorite part of the story (Hannah) was when Mandy went into the woods by herself to look for her Grandma's pin because that showed she was brave. My favorite part of the story (Emily) was when Mandy put a marshmallow up to her ear because Grandma had told her that her mother's voice was soft and sweet and she thought the marshmallow might sound like her mother's voice. My favorite part of the story (Jacob) was when Mandy found the raccoon in the woods because it was scary when she thought the raccoon might be someone or something that might hurt her and she was still brave to go on to look for her Grandma's pin.
This story reminds us of the stories in two Frog and Toad (Arnold Lobel) books when Toad lost his list and when Toad lost his button because they both had things that were lost in the woods. We liked the pictures because the illustrator made the pictures look almost real, like photographs. We especially liked the picture of the flashlight showing up the eyes of the raccoon in the dark woods. It was like we were in the woods too.
We would recommend this book to children who like sad and kind of scary stories because it is both sad and scary. You will need to read the book to find out if Grandma's pin is found.