Porcupine Cupid

Porcupine, who has round glasses, pink-tipped quills, and a red, heart-shaped nose, is excited on Valentine’s Day, using one of his quills to play Cupid to the forest’s anthropomorphic animals. After poking various animals, frustrating the forest’s denizens, Porcupine affixes a sign to a tree: “Town hall meeting to discuss the poke-y porcupine problem.” The meeting unites four couples, and Porcupine is appeased, before he receives a prickly surprise of his own. The narrative regrettably seems to imply an ends-justifies-the-means message about consent vis-à-vis love, with many animals telling Porcupine “Don’t!” and “Stop!” throughout, but puns enliven June’s text (“Porcupine’s heart was set on fanning the flames of love,” reads one page, as Porcupine pricks a bear roasting marshmallows over a campfire), and expressive digital illustrations by Richmond hold cartoonish appeal. Ages 4–8. (Dec.)