Badgers Are Go!

Lulu Whifferton-Rear is a happy young badger, who loves nothing more than scampering through the flowers and lying on her back daydreaming near her cosy home in the woods.

Her life is suddenly changed beyond recognition, when she is thrust into the world of Rumpington Academy of Badgering and instructed to report for training as a pilot of the BOPs (or Badger Operated Persons), who are actually some of the most important humans in the world! Poor Lulu can’t seem to remember all the information being thrown at her and is convinced that she shouldn’t really be there, for surely she is the ‘wrongest badger for the job’? When a spy infiltrates the training academy with a dastardly plan to cause chaos in the human world, can Lulu manage to recall her training and prove that, with just the right amount of welly and a pile of cheese and tomato sandwiches, maybe she is the right badger for the job after all?

This original and fast paced tale is full of hilarious and well-crafted characters, with wonderful names that will make readers of all ages enjoy a chuckle to themselves. For younger readers, I feel that this would work well as a “read-aloud” with parents or teachers explaining some of the vocabulary and context.

Illustrator Nici Gregory specialises in drawing animals and here she endearingly brings the many badger characters to life, each displaying their own qualities and quirks, adding the perfect addition to Lloyd’s fun packed text.

This is a charming and warm-hearted story, which should offer inspiration to those of us not always confident in our abilities and proves that being true to yourself is always the best thing to be.