Starred Review ALA Booklist (Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2010)

Starred Review This beautifully painted and sweetly told tale e first in the Mr. Badger and Mrs. Fox series lls how two different families meet, overcome suspicion of each other, and work to combine resources. Mr. Badger has his paws full caring for a baby girl and her two older brothers, one of whom is a Peter Rabbit like mischief maker. Mrs. Fox and her daughter happen into the badger burrow when their own is invaded by scary dogs. Rendered as a beginning graphic novel, the story and characters are presented with plenty of heart and soul: expressive anthropomorphic faces and postures and rich dialogue require and reward engagement. Watercolor panels vary in size on folio pages, and balloons contain an easy-to-read font. Although the story is self-contained in this book, this promising start of a series translated from the French will leave American readers wanting the next story. Quality translation and art production, along with a hardcover binding that lies flat, are details that suggest this book can be a popular mainstay in collections for a long time. A delight on many levels, it is also big enough to share with small groups and detailed enough to make for a leisurely individual reading experience.

Horn Book

Badgers Bristle and Grub aren't pleased when Papa, a widower, invites Mrs. Fox and her daughter to share their burrow. (Think The Brady Bunch recast with cutesy woodland animals.) The kids hatch a scheme to demonstrate that "badgers and foxes are not made to live together." The overly purposeful story is accompanied by spirited cartoon-panel illustrations; the translation from French is frequently clunky.

Kirkus Reviews

Wooden dialogue weighs down this woodsy graphic tale of two single-parent families getting together. Routed out of their den by hunters, Mrs. Fox and her daughter, Ginger, wangle an invitation to stay the night with Mr. Badger and his kits, Grub, Bristle and the baby. The grown-ups click immediately; the young folk—particularly hostile, unsocialized only-child Ginger—start off, at least, at war. Arranged in squared-off graphic panels, several to a page, Tharlet's uncluttered, fluidly brushed watercolor scenes are easy to follow as the young folk squabble about games and other issues but eventually come together over plans for a big moving-in party. Unfortunately the conversation as translated by Burrell too often runs to blocky lines—"We cannot return to our burrow. It is all destroyed"—and there is little suspense about the eventual outcome, giving this purposeful but promising series an uneven start. Still, it's hard not to warm up to characters named Bristle and Grub; here's hoping things smooth out in future entries. (Graphic fiction. 6-8)

School Library Journal (Sat May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2010)

Gr 1-3 This picture-book-size graphic novel involves two single-parent animal familiesMr. Badger, his two sons Bristle and Grub, and baby daughter Berry; and Mrs. Fox and her daughter Ginger. After hunters destroy the Foxes' home, the adults meet and decide to share a burrow. Not happy with this arrangement, Bristle, Grub, and Ginger organize an open-house party to convince their parents that badgers and foxes should not live together. The story has enough action to keep readers' interest and a dramatic resolution. The theme of children in blended families is well developed without being didactic. With some help from adults, beginning-level readers will be able to read the comic-style text balloons and follow the panels. The soft watercolor illustrations evoke the summer forest setting and move the story along. A good start to a new series. Marilyn Ackerman, Brooklyn Public Library, NY