Product Description

Badger lives in an old house that he loves, but it has a leaky old roof and noisy banging shutters. After a big storm, when the shutters blow off and rain pours in, Badger is fed up and decides he wants a new house – one that doesn't need to be fixed up. So he moves into a fancy new house, but it is just too BIG and it doesn't feel like home. What can Badger do to solve his dilemma?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #575621 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In a sort of This Old House for the picture-book set, Muller (The Angel Tree) demonstrates that, indeed, there's no place like home. Badger's cozy cottage has its flaws the door sticks, the roof leaks, etc. but Badger overlooks them until a storm wreaks havoc. Declaring that he can't fix the damage, the waistcoat-wearing Badger finds himself a baronial mansion ("Now this is a house!"). His old place looks "so empty and sad" that Badger decides to advertise for a new resident for it, and in moves Grandmother Mouse, confident that "someone" will perform the necessary repairs. Uncomfortable in his imposing home, it is Badger who fixes the cottage's sticky door, glues the shutters in place, and so on; a clever ending rewards Badger for his hard work (and Grandmother for her guile). The illustrations suggest an English yesteryear, with characters sporting an elaborately quaint combination of Victorian and Edwardian fashions. Muller heaps on the visual details, especially in the cottage decor. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
reSchool-Grade 2-Badger loves his old house, despite its flaws. Then one night, a bad storm damages it. Unwilling to undertake the necessary repairs, he decides it's time to move. His fancy new house is much larger than his previous one but, not surprisingly, he soon misses his cozy old place. When the new tenant, Grandmother Mouse, gently points out just one of the house's pitfalls, Badger gallantly steps in and attempts to make repairs. With each ensuing visit, his confidence grows and soon the old abode is as good as new. The final problem of space, created when Grandmother Mouse's large extended family moves in with her, is solved by a house swap, leaving Badger back home. While Muller doesn't explain why Badger is initially reluctant to repair his house, Grandmother Mouse's gentle manipulation is both amusing and convincing. The characters' costumes (a tailcoat for Badger, a long dress with a bustle for Grandmother Mouse), along with details of architecture and setting, give the book a charming, old-fashioned look. Humorous touches keep the pictures, created with watercolors and pencil crayons, from being cloying, and offer engaging details not mentioned in the text. Young readers will likely enjoy return visits to Badger's house almost as much as he does.
Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
PreS.-Gr. 2. Badger lives in a cozy little house that he loves dearly. But when a storm batters his home, Badger is so overwhelmed by the repairs that he looks for a place to live. He moves into an enormous (albeit cold and impersonal) house and sells his old fixer-upper to Grandmother Mouse. A friendship develops between the two animals, and when Badger goes each afternoon to Grandmother Mouse's for tea, he starts to fix things up. Every day it's something else--the sticking door, the banging shutters, the leaky roof. When Grandmother Mouse's extended family comes to stay, she needs more room, so she and Badger make a switch, and once again Badger is back in his cozy house. Colorful, detailed illustrations in watercolor and pencil enhance this satisfying story of friendship and hard work that will appeal to story-hour audiences as well as lap-sit readers. Helen Rosenberg
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