Are You a Cheeseburger?: A Laugh-Out-Loud Picture Book About a Raccoon, a Seed, and Friendship for Kids (Ages 4-8)

A Kids' Indie Next List pick! Laugh-out-loud humor and a tender friendship blossom in author-illustrator Monica Arnaldo’s charming picture book about a lonely raccoon and a glowing seed, and the world’s most important question: Can this seed grow cheeseburgers? 

Grub is a lonely racoon. Rumbling in the trash. Looking for food.

Seed is, well, a seed! Patiently waiting in the trash. Hoping someone will plant it. 

When the two finally meet, they realize they might be able to help each other! Grub has just one big question first: What will Seed grow? Could Seed grow Grub’s favorite food, mouthwatering cheeseburgers? Seed isn’t sure what a cheeseburger is exactly, but . . . maybe!

And so begins a hilarious friendship following two unlikely strangers learning more about the other and discovering the pressure that comes with fulfilling expectations. Author-illustrator Monica Arnaldo will leave readers giggling and clamoring for more in this charming story that celebrates the unexpected—and how the most special friendships bloom only when we are unapologetically ourselves.

Monica Arnaldo was born in Ontario, Canada, where the trash cans are often filled with raccoons and half-eaten cheeseburgers (but seldom any glowing seeds). When she wasn’t drawing or reading, she spent much of her childhood pondering some of life’s great questions, such as “Can I pet that wild animal?” and “Why not?” She has since written and illustrated several picture books and moved to Quebec, where raccoons speak French.