Badger in the Basement

Animal Ark [GB Order] #6

by Lucy Daniels, Ben M. Baglio

Mandy Hope loves animals more than anything else. She knows quite a lot about them too; both her parents are vets and Mandy helps out in their surgery, Animal Ark.

James leads Mandy to a badger sett he's been watching, but they find the sett has been deliberately destroyed! Even worse, they find an orphaned badger cub.

Can Mandy and James find out who has done such a terrible, cruel thing? And will they find a home for the young badger?

Genres: Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Juvenile, Chapter Books, Realistic Fiction, Kids

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1994

About the author

Lucy Daniels is the collective name for the writing team that created the bestselling children's book series Animal Ark, many of the books are also published under the name of the series creator, Ben M. Baglio.

Reviews

[Jody Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy has written straight from the mind of a young teen. By no means a small achievement.

I read these books as a child and spent all my pocket money on these books. I was worried that I wouldn't like them as an adult, having seen the world of vet nursing and also more aware of life and experiences.

A few typos aside, I have to tip my hat to Lucy. It's a captivating original text all about a young girl, her best friend and her passion for animals and insatiable curiosity leading her on incredible adventures that protect and avenge animals.

The text appeared to be long, but the font is large. Chapters are short and concise so teens attention is maintained but also easy to put down. It inspires a nurturing of animals.

An enjoyable read to a nostalgic 30yo but wouldn't recommend any adult to read if they haven't read these stories before. These are certainly exclusively for the target audience. If you have or know a young adult who even remotely likes animals, then do pass on a copy of one of Lucy's Animal Ark series. They won't be disappointed.

[Katie (Kitkatscanread) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nostalgic feels again with this one.
This time about badgers and nasty men using dogs to get the badgers.
An injured badger and an injured dog.
I really enjoyed this one and I love Mandy's fighting spirit.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in conjunction with Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song. You know -- can't get my dessert until I eat my vegetables. Although a big treat to read after plowing through Mailer, I did find the criminals in this book far more chilling than Gary Gilmore. Here, the Animal Ark crew tackles badger baiting, where really ticked-off badgers are pitted against half-starved dogs for betting purposes.



The story itself is quite hard to predict at times -- always a plus in my book. However, this book has continuity problems. I guess it's inevitable that they pop up in a series, but still it's a shame to see. Grandma is a bitch here -- something not seen in the previous five books. Also, there seems to be a sudden policy change in treating wildlife at Animal Ark. That was a bit confusing.

Mandy is also more scatterbrained here than usual but I guess she serves as the book's comic relief. Fortunately, there is no slapstick scene here (as in the other books) since it would have undermined the drama and horror of trying to stop the local badger baiting ring. There are still some cute moments, but they come at appropriate moments.



I also wonder if the British edition had Mandy bringing tea and scones to her allies instead of coffee and scones. Yes, I know there are Brits who love coffee and hate tea (David Bowie was one) but scones practically cry out for tea above all other beverages. One day I'll get a hold of the UK edition and compare.

The real author of this book was Bette Paul, who would go on to write the excellent sequel, Badgers By the Bridge. This was one of 13 books made into the short lived Animal Ark television series by ITV in 1997. I have not seen the episode, so I don't know how it compares.

[Jacque · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 7-year-old daughter checked this out from her school library, and asked me to read it aloud to her. We have read two other books from the Animal Ark series (both about cats) and she seems to like the main character, Mandy Hope, and the plots involving animals. I am an animal lover as well but I wasn't very familiar with the badgers of England since we are USA residents. I think we both enjoyed the book, but my daughter probably enjoyed the other two books about cats more because she can better relate to pet cats. Badger in the Basement did have young Mandy and her friend, James, spending some time out in the forest, sometimes at night. My daughter thought that was scary, and told me she would not want to be alone in the woods without an adult. Keep in mind that the main child characters are about 12 years of age while my daughter is only 7. I think animal-loving kids age 9+ would probably enjoy this; especially kids interested in wild animals and wild animal legal protections.

[Martina]

Ein Dach für den Dachs
My third book in German! For some reason this one was a little harder to understand than the others. Often I had no idea what was happening. But still I'm happy that I chose Lucy Daniels books to practice my German. Every book by the author is the same and yet different - you have Mandy, her family of vets and animal lovers, her best friend James with his dog Blackie, and a few neighbours. It's just the animal in need that changes in every book. And I find that comforting.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book! Even at 46 years old...I heard of the Badger Cull in the UK; I believe I once signed an online petition to put an end to it. It was unclear what became of the criminals at the end of this story, hence the 3 stars.

[Ashleigh Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a good read and it's a very easy read as well which is great especially for children.

[Lottie Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic animal ark

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are my comfort books. I've been reading these over and over again since I was a kid

[Katherine Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

[A.R. Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first Animal Ark book I got as a child, and I can see why it sparked my interest in the series. The plot being centred around animal-related crime works well, and Mandy and James's investigations reminded me of Enid Blyton at times; the story follows a similar structure to something of hers but, thankfully, makes more sense (just enough for a simple children's story with a predictably happy ending). Humbug the badger doesn't actually feature that much as a character; the injured terrier is more of a protagonist than he is. Still, he plays his part, and this instalment is overall very solid.

[Rea]

I really enjoyed this whole series as a child. Back then I'd devour each of the books as soon as I could get my hands on them.

[Sammy]

I was completely obsessed with this series of books when I was a child and my aim was to read every single book. They are a really good children's series.

[Taylor Troncin]

Loved this series when I was younger. Still a huge animal lover and would like to read the rest of this series!

[Bozena Andersen]

i liked it

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

animal ark series