Tidy

Emily Gravett does the best illustrations. Pete the badger is a serious tidier and none of the other forest animals managed to stop him from leveraging his tidiness into paving over the entire forest. They did all start eyeing him warily when he started collecting all the leaves, and looked real concerned when he started uprooting all the trees, and by the time the concrete arrived I guess they felt there was nothing they could do because they'd been silent the whole time. They were all happy to help Pete put the forest back to normal after he realized he'd made a mistake, but no one spoke out against his actions while multiple mistakes were being made. They all knew there was a problem, but they said nothing! How does Pete have so much show more power? Does he have a brute squad somewhere that keeps these animals living in fear? Even at the beginning the birds seemed quite happy to have their beaks brushed by Pete, but the fox always looked nervous. Was Pete democratically elected the leader of the forest and now the people aren't sure how to deal with the consequences of the Make The Forest Great Again campaign? Or are they all deferring to him because he has a mental illness and they're scared to scold him? Is Pete Charlie X?? Are the animals all afraid that if they make him angry he'll disappear them with his mind? Did all the animals just move on to another forest while theirs was paved, or were they also huddled in abandoned construction equipment, waiting for Pete to come to his senses? What if he never did? Would the animals have just died on the concrete, thinking about how there was nothing they could do? OR MAYBE Pete is the only animal who has gained some kind of sentience and the other animals just go along with him because they aren't capable of making conscious choices. Maybe they're just looking worriedly at everything Pete's doing because they can sense something is wrong, this is not how the forest is supposed to be, but they can't break out of their compulsion to follow the leader. show less

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A delightfully refreshing book by Emily Gravett, from the moment you look at the book with its die-cut front cover, to the end with a humorous request on the back from the Badger. Gravett uses rhymes to tell the story and it is easy to read in your head or aloud with a rhythmic cadence. The message about environmental conservation and protection is well done with utilizing a cleaning fiend to show how to care care of the forest, how concrete and cutting down trees are hurting it. A well done book that is satisfying from front to back. And an animal I could use in my own home to help with the mess.

A sweet rhyming story about a badger who goes just a little overboard keeping the forest tidy. The artwork is clever and beautiful.

Part of my 365 Kids Books challenge. For a fuller explanation see my review for [b:101 Amazing Facts about Australia|21332402|101 Amazing Facts about Australia (Countries of the World)|Jack Goldstein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394253825l/21332402._SY75_.jpg|25417728] You can see all the books on their own shelf.

Without the opportunity to browse the shelves in the usual way I've been just thinking of an author I like, looking them up at each of my usual sources, and thus, acquiring as many as possible. So now: Emily Gravett.

Not the sturdiest of books for young fans, but the hardcover with the cut out and the first page and the dust jacket gives a very nice 3D effect of a stage setting. Also, show more the dustjacket has art on both sides, as does the book cover and the first and last pages. They are well worth looking at.

Badger likes to keep the forest tidy, to a disastrous degree. So then he has to fix it. There aren't too many books out there saying "enjoy the chaos" so I'm quite glad this one does. show less

This book has a wonderful message! Perfection can lead to ruin! A badger, Pete, is obsessed with cleanliness and destroys a forest in his quest to make it perfectly tidy. The rhyming was an unexpected delight. The characters are expressive and comical. I would use this book for either a poetry unit or a lesson on growth mindset and the power of learning from our mistakes. It also ends with a lesson in teamwork and the power of collaboration.

The rhyming text describes a badger named Pete, "who tidied and cleaned and kept everything neat," but Pete's tidying tendencies go too far (see: paved paradise and put up a parking lot). Pete, with help from his forest friends, puts the forest back the way it used to be.

The art is so beautiful. The story is also great, when a project goes to far and how you sometimes end up going back and undoing it because sometimes your way isn't best for all. Reminded Leagan and I of some of Corey Tabors Fox books.