Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake

Skunk and Badger (Skunk and Badger #1) by Amy Timberlake

Release: September 15th 2020
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Source: Publisher
Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, Bookshop

Wallace and Gromit meets Winnie-the-Pooh in a fresh take on a classic odd-couple friendship, from Newbery Honor author Amy Timberlake with full-color and black-and-white illustrations throughout by Caldecott Medalist Jon Klassen.

No one wants a skunk.

They are unwelcome on front stoops. They should not linger in Important Rock Rooms. No one should ever allow Skunks to move in. But Skunk is Badger’s new roommate, and there is nothing Badger can do about it.

When Skunk plows into Badger’s life, everything Badger knows gets upside down flipping the tails. The wrong animal is sprayed. And why-oh-why are there so many chickens?

“Nooooooooooooooooooooo!”

Newbery Honor author Amy Timberlake spins the first tale in a series about two opposites who need to be friends.

New York Times bestselling author/illustrator and Caldecott Medalist Jon Klassen completes the book with his signature lushly textured art. This beautifully bound edition contains both full-color plates and numerous black-and-white illustrations.

Skunk and Badger is a book you’ll want to read, reread, and read out loud . . . again and again.

About the Author:

Amy Timberlake’s work has received a Newbery Honor, an Edgar, and a Golden Kite Award. Book Sense Pick chose One book for the award, and The New York Times Reviewed another. Her books have made several “best books of the year” lists, and she loves it when the books become part of a state reading list. (Thank you!) Chicago’s Lifeline Theatre has adapted both One Came Home and The Dirty Cowboy for the stage. She’s received residency fellowships from Hedgebrook, and the Anderson Center.

Bookpage has called her most recent book, One Came Home, “a True Grit for the middle school set”. The Washington Post called it as “a valentine to sisterhood and a bird that no longer exists” and The Christian Science Monitor. “a rare gem of a novel” .

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Skunk and Badger Review:

This was such a fun book! It was like mixing The Odd Couple with Winnie the Pooh, and I adored it!

The highlight of the story is the characters, and I loved all of them. Even as an adult, I could relate to the characters so much. I could completely feel Badger’s frustrations as he gets a new roommate. Almost everyone faces moments of transition in their lives, where they have to face something new. These experiences are never smooth if the person is unprepared, and the author did a wonderful job in highlighting the animals in a realistic manner. Badger and Skunk complement each other so well with their clashing personalities. It was a lot of fun their interactions and reactions to the various situations.

The author also writes the story in such a whimsical manner that you immediately relate to the characters, even if they are animals. On a side note, I also loved all the geology references and learned new terms like “Tourmaline Pegmatite”. Similarly, the illustrations are amazing. As I got an advanced copy, few illustrations were in Black and white and few colored. Both stood out in their own manner and made the story stand out.

The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars was because I felt like the story solely put Badger in the negative instead of Skunk also adjusting and making changes . Yes, Badger was rude for how he reacted, but he did so because Skunk provoked him so much. Yet, in the story, Skunk did not come across like he learnt his lesson.

Apart from that, this book was just so cute! Although it is a children’s book, it resonates across all age groups, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.