The Imposter

Being a skunk is a lonely life, and Skunk sometimes wishes he were a dog, an animal that everyone seems to love. Finding a poster for a missing black canine called Max, Skunk cannot understand why Max, or any dog, would run away from its loving family. The situation, however, presents Skunk with an opportunity: he will impersonate Max and be welcomed into the home. As a first step, Skunk begins barking [see Excerpt], but a trio of animals point out that he neither looks nor sounds like Max. Appealing to the trio’s vanity, Skunk gets them to assist in his transformation which begins with their masking his telltale white stripe, creating floppy dog ears from a sock and a glove, and creating a fake dog collar, one complete with a tag. With Skunk’s disguise complete, Squirrel, Cat and Raccoon then provide Skunk with lessons on dog behaviour, including rolling over, bone-burying, asking for belly rubs. (“It’s all in the eyes, see?”) and tail-wagging.

However, as Skunk the Imposter, approaches the door to what he hopes will be his new home and family, he wonders out loud as to the reasons for Max’s abandoning his happy home, Squirrel responds, “Oh, I doubt he ran away. Max is probably lost.” Distressed by Squirrel’s comment and also anxious at having to carry out the ruse, Skunk, as the front door opens, does what most skunks do when threatened – he sprays. Though Squirrel, Cat and Raccoon try to convince Skunk to try again (“Yep, until you sprayed Max’s family you were very convincing.”), Skunk gives the trio (and his new family) a new (and successful) task – finding the real Max and getting him home to his family.

Most of the book’s narrative consists of speech bubbles with bridging portions of text, and The Imposter has a graphic novel feel to it. Collier’s cartoon style illustrations are outstanding in that they imbue each of the four animals with its own distinct character.

A delightfully funny read, The Imposter also delivers a serious message concerning the definition of family.