Bad Badger - A Family Story by Maryrose Wood - an Audio book from Libby

 I listened to this story while on a visit to Rapid City in the heat of the summer of 2026. It was a delightful "escape" and thoroughly enjoyable continuation of the earlier Bad Badger book, recommended to me by John Stevenson. The first one is his FAVORITE book, he says. So of course I had to order him the sequel, as well as a stuffed badger!

This one is even better than the first. The patient unfolding and explaining of complex human feelings and development are just beautiful. And they are instructive for a young person OR an older one! There are important relationship skills that are beautifully explained and modeled by the characters. One in particular is allowing for bad moods and why one might want to be forgiving in tense situations. The story also illustrates the stresses of parenthood in an empathetic and caring way. 

I haven't heard John's reaction to this story yet; but I'm anxious to hear what he thinks!

Bad Badger: A Love Story by Maryrose Wood - Audiobook on Libby - 2 hours, 42 minutes

 On their recent visit to St. George, John Stevenson told me about his favorite book. This one. In fact, he told me he had listened to it multiple times, he liked it so much. There is a sequel, too, which we found on Amazon, that he didn't know about. I ordered it for him, and I hope it got into his hands today.

This afternoon I finished listening to this sweet story. I never would have guessed that John would have liked it! There is some sophisticated vocabulary, despite it being recommended for 12-year olds. It has great messaging about fitting in and being polite and being prepared and figuring out where you belong. I'm delighted that he likes this story so much. It's so good, and very well-written. This narrator has an English accent, so it feels very charming and old-fashioned. 

The badger is also John's current favorite animal, probably because of this book. When we went to the wildlife museum, I offered to buy him a stuffed animal. He carefully looked and looked, but could not find a stuffed badger, so he settled for a soft raccoon instead. I think it's great that a 14-year old can still enjoy his stuffies!!!

The badger in this story, Septimus, is the 7th in his family, and will probably be reunited with his siblings in the next book. I like how the author uses the latin numbers multiple times, so kids will remember at least one through nine after reading this book. So many good lessons too, like: if you don't have a backbone, you have to make it up with ferocity! I liked that and thought of Trump! There were many good lessons along the way, as well as actual, factual information about seagulls, badgers and seashells. No wonder John enjoyed it!