Tidy

Product Information

Yesterday a parent came over to tell me how impressed she was by the book fair and that you did a fabulous job of selling the books to the children first. You guys were so fab and Dawn was such a lovely presence in the schools - I will absolutely be in touch next time I'm in your neck of the woods. None of the badgers in these books appear as active or irresponsible as Pete in Tidy, although wild badgers do go to some trouble to keep their sett clean and remove stale bedding away from any openings. Young children will enjoy the pictures, approachable characterisation and considerate message of ‘Tidy’. You guys are such a force for good and I am a passionate supporter of Indie booksellers, so I'm so happy this worked out well (I'd love to know how many books were sold if you have it to hand - it felt like quite a lot!

The message is admirable and the cut-out cover enticing, but the greatest joy is in the comic expressions, hand-wrought images and witty detail. It has no words and uses beautifully created collage to show the progress of a scene from a window showing creeping urbanisation, over a period of possibly twenty years. A rhyming text and witty illustrations introduce us to badger, Pete, whose penchant for keeping the forest and his various animal friends spick and span appears, to begin with, largely laudable. Emily Gravett is twice winner of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal and the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Bronze Award for Wolves and Little Mouse's Big Book Of Fears. I was at my last school for 4 years and we had ********* book fairs every term – and every term, I was disappointed by the narrow range of books.He snips off flowers that don't match, washes the birds, vacuums the forest floor and sweeps, scrubs and polishes until everything is spick and span. I haven't charted out my visits for the summer term, but I'm sure there are several in the south) and thanks so much for being so fantastic! A flood follows: cue for double page spread with what looks very convincingly like a lot of real mud in which Pete wallows with his red bucket and mop. This is a tale of dinosaurs using their strength and power to break up concrete roads and clear up piles of old cars and other man made rubbish. With warm, rich illustrations, bursting with humorous detail and amusing rhyming text, the tale skips along and is great to read aloud.

It might be interesting to compare different badger characters and look at some non-fiction about the wild animals to see if there is a realistic basis for representing badgers with these characteristics. From climate change to animal conservation, these picture books, poetry collections, novels and graphic novels will encourage children and young people to think about and discuss pressing issues about the environment. Gravett's familiar minor cast of bemused bunnies and dishevelled foxes pop up throughout and the pictures are packed with comic detail.Thereafter, as Pete’s Tidy begins with just one leaf, we see how this tiny step affects something else. Some also introduce children to different weather patterns, and other amazing features of planet Earth. However, the wicked looking stainless steel secateurs with which he is cutting off flowers whose colours ‘didn’t quite match’, should warn us that this is an animal whose scouring and scrubbing may lead to a drastic minimalist solution to nature’s inherent untidiness. They would also only drop off a case of books and leave us to run it – it was so lovely to have you on hand to chat to the children and recommend them books, as well as the small (but appreciated! Yourself and Bob are much cherished in our booky world and I personally really appreciate everything that you do.