Sara Raccoon and the Secret Place (1992) by Margaret Burdick shows Sara Racoon shouting “Go away!” at her pesky siblings and then at her friend, Bobby Otter. Sara is craving some time alone. So is her mother when she tells all three of her children to play outside. Because the story begins, “It was another rainy day in Maple Forest”, we can infer the family is stressed by too much time indoors. Mother Raccoon tells Sara, “I need some peace and quiet by myself this afternoon.” Quite accidentally, Sara finds a hollow space inside a tree, and she transforms it into her special, secret place. Then Sara makes the mistake of treating her friend the same way she treated her siblings. I think this story is intended to teach sharing, but to my mind, it also teaches conversational skill. Sara must mend her friendship before it fractures. A relationship with siblings is different. I enjoyed Burdick's busy illustrations of Maple Forest.
