Wood, Maryrose. Bad Badger: A Family Story. Giulia Ghigini, Illus. Bad Badger; bk. 2. Union Square, 05/2026. 200pp. Fiction. Trade $18.99. 978-1-45495-348-7. GRADES 3–5. HIGH ADDITIONAL.
In this sequel to Bad Badger: A Love Story (2024), Septimus Badger and Gully (a seagull) are tending three seagull chicks. A group of forest badgers come to visit and build a burrow in the backyard, upsetting Septimus’s routine of teatime and listening to opera, but they teach him new things. The old-fashioned style of this charming novel has the appeal of Grahame’s Wind in the Willows (Methuen, 1908) and similar animal stories, but doesn’t have much action until the final few chapters, when the chicks learn to fly. There are some appealing pencil sketches that appear every other chapter to add interest. This will find an audience with children who like cozy stories in the style of many classic British children’s books.
Penny Peck—San José State University iSchool