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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | EASY WHI | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | EASY WHI | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
A small badger uses simple metaphors to explain how he feels when he sees his parents arguing. When they fight, storms rage and monsters beat on the door. When they make up, the world is sunny again. Beautiful illustrations capture the parents' conflict and the emotions of the child. It's a story with a happy ending that will inspire discussion among family members and between children and their counselors.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-When his parents fight, a young badger feels like "a ship in stormy seas" or "a kite, blown away in a breeze." He leaves the house to wait it out, lonely and sad, unwilling to remain where beasts "roar and beat on the door." When his parents make up, he feels once again in control, "strong as a lion," "fast as a tiger," and is safe in his parents' arms. Small frames depicting the little creature running from the house to survive alone in a dark, scary world are superimposed on double-page spreads of the adult badgers quarrelling. The parents, colored in soft shades of gray-green much like shadows that cast a pall over the little one's life, loom large across each spread, mouths open, teeth bared, claws extended. When they reconcile, the adults resume their normal coloring. The world once again becomes a sunny place and their child is assured of their love. This story may, as psychologist Barbara Kezur suggests in her introduction, serve as a jumping-off point for discussion for those children who experience domestic unrest. The fact that the protagonists are badgers makes the situation easier for youngsters to face and talk about, and the happy ending, while a bit simplistic, will offer some reassurance.-Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
A young badger describes what happens when his parents fight: It gets dark, and I am lost. It gets cold, and I shiver. Against expressive watercolors of the arguing parents, the child badger creeps through a stormy landscape, dramatically rendered in stark, wintry tones. Later, when the parents are friends, the badger's spirits rise. The text has a comforting rhythm, and the art is striking. From HORN BOOK Spring 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Ages 2^-5. Here's the opposite of Sendak's classic Where the Wild Things Are (1963). A small badger feels as if he's helpless in a storm when his parents fight ("The world shakes. The house quakes. Beasts roar and beat on the door"). The dramatic pictures express the child's terror when his caregivers become mighty monsters and home no longer feels safe. Small watercolor scenes show the frightened little animal running through the woods with his hands over his ears, lost in the dark, huddled under a branch, lonely and sad. In the background of every double-page spread loom huge silhouettes of the quarreling adults. When the adults make up, the sun comes out. The scary giant shadows disappear, and the watercolor pictures spread across the pages in light and love ("I am safe. I am warm in a cozy nest. I am happy. I am precious"). The animal characters distance the scary violence, as the story and the bibliotherapy get close to the child's viewpoint. A good book for families to talk about together. --Hazel Rochman
