You know and I know that I need my tailypo...
So, back in the fall I read The Tailypo to the Red Room kids and they loved it. The story is pretty vague about what the tailypo actually looks like. There is mention of the tail, of course, and near the end there is talk of pointy ears and round eyes. We knew that it could talk when it wanted and it probably had claws what with all the scratching at the walls and door and windows. So we talked about other animals with markings... some cows had spots, some were all one color, some cats had stripes, or spots or were all one color, zebras, tigers, pandas, otters and owls all had different markings, so what color would a tailypo have. We talked about the environment of the story and how it took place in the Appalachians which were a deciduous forest region and what kind of camouflage an animal that had never been seen would need to have.
Then, they drew what they thought it might look like. If you see any multicolored raccoons, whatever you do, don't cut off their tails!