Read the sentence from "Raccoon Olympics." It will not occur to me until I am an adult to wonder if Paul convinced all the kids he could train wild raccoons to compete in swim meets, or if he just made up a kinder explanation for me. What is the author's purpose in this sentence?

The author's purpose in this sentence is to show how Paul cares about protecting children from knowing what is really going on with raccoons. In this case, the author shows how adults are responsible for putting children through bad experiences for them and creating an environment that makes them comfortable.

Explanation:

In "Raccoon Olympics" we are introduced to a narrative where traps are placed in the trees of an ecological field to capture raccoons. Paul King is the naturalist who works in the park and was hired to inspect these traps. He is talking to the storyteller, who is a child and her father. Paul explains that the traps are placed because raccoons do not have a predator in the environment and end up reproducing a lot and causing overpopulation problems. When we read the story, we can see that raccoons are captured to be killed, but in order not to traumatize the child and not expose him to uncomfortable situations, Paul says that raccoons are captured to participate in swimming competitions between them.

(you didn't attach a copy of the poem, but i'm answering as best as i can)

since a simile compares two unlike things using like or as, it kind of gives an item the ability to do something it can't.

example: "the player was like a tiger on the field"

in this sentence, the simile conveys the idea that the player was fast and strong, like a tiger.