The Meeting

Monsieur Blaireau et Madame Renarde #1

by Brigitte Luciani, Eve Tharlet (Illustrator)

Grub, Bristle, and Ginger agree on only one thing: badgers and foxes cannot be friends. But when hunters chase Ginger and her mother out of their den, Mr. Badger and Mrs. Fox decide they should all live together. Grub, Bristle, and Ginger have a BIG PLAN to change their parents' minds . . . but it's going to take a lot of cooperation to prove that they just can't get along! This is the first book in the Mr. Badger and Mrs. Fox series.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Childrens, Animals, Picture Books, Comics, Fiction, Bande Dessinée

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Brigitte Luciani est née en 1966 à Hanovre (Allemagne). De mère allemande et de père hongrois, elle découvre tôt le plaisir de naviguer entre deux cultures. Après une enfance plongée dans la lecture, elle part à Munich, où elle décroche une maîtrise de littérature. Elle parcourt les États-Unis et l'Inde, puis elle s'installe à Berlin, où elle travaille successivement comme assistante dans une petite maison d'édition, comme chef de projet dans une agence de relations publiques, puis comme documentaliste dans une agence iconographique. En 1994, elle quitte sa patrie pour s'installer près de Paris (l'amour ? ? l'amour !). Heureuse de se retrouver de nouveau entre deux cultures et enfin débarrassée de toute certitude, elle commence à écrire : livres jeunesse, romans et scénarios de BD. Avec Ève Tharlet, elle crée "Monsieur Blaireau et Madame Renarde" (Dargaud), dont les histoires sont aujourd'hui traduite dans 17 langues et recommandées par le ministère de l'Éducation nationale pour la lecture en cycle 2. Les albums sont également disponibles en édition de poche (L'École des loisirs). "Cassis" (Dargaud), une nouvelle série qui a pour personnage principal la petite dernière de M. Blaireau et Mme Renarde, voit le jour en 2014. La série connaît une extraordinaire visibilité avec la diffusion sur France 5 d'un dessin animé (qui travaille actuellement sur la saison 2 qui sera diffusé à partir de 2021) Des albums thématiques de BD sortent dorénavant en parallèle des aventures classiques : "La Famille Blaireau Renard présente" : les Émotions (2018), les Arbres (2019) ou encore Vivre ensemble ! (2020) Avec le Colonel Moutarde, Brigitte Luciani imagine "Maïa" (Dargaud), dont le tome 1 est immédiatement sélectionné pour le prix Jeunesse d'Angoulême. Avec la même illustratrice, elle a également publié, chez Delcourt, "L'Espace d'un soir", "Comédie d'amour" et "Histoires cachées". En 2020 elle sort son premier roman graphique « On se reposera plus tard ! » dessiné par Claire Le Meil (Steinkis).

Brigitte Luciani wurde 1966 in Hannover geboren. Nach dem Studium der deutschen Literatur und Geschichte in München, arbeitete sie als Fotodokumentalistin beim Ullstein Bilderdienst in Berlin bevor sie 1994 nach Frankreich zog. Heute lebt sie als freie Autorin in Paris und schreibt Erzählungen und Kinderbücher sowie Szenarios für Comics und TV.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here's the story of a lovely vixen
Who was bringing up one very lovely kit.
Yes that girl had hair of red, like her mother,
The dad's been gone a bit.

Here's the story, of a boar named Edmund,
Who was busy with three boys of his own,
They were badgers, living all together,
Yet they were all alone.

Till the one day when the vixen met this badger
And they knew it was much more than a hunch,
That this group must somehow form a family.
That's the way we all became Fox-Badger Bunch.

Fox-Badger Bunch,
Fox-Badger Bunch,
That's the way we became Fox-Badger Bunch.

So yes, it's nice to see a children's comic about a blended family as a divorced fox pairs up with a widower badger in the forest, but its a bit dull for an older reader. This first outing mostly focuses on the kids clashing until they are united by a desire to split up their parents. But, you know, plans go awry.

Apparently this is popular in its home country of France, where it has inspired two spin-off book series featuring the kids and a 96-episode animated show under the title, "La famille Blaireau Renard." I hope their theme song writer had the same idea I did . . .

[Raïssa]

histoire mims sur le partage et la famille recomposée

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute graphic novel for 2nd grade and up. I love the art style. The only problem I have is that I can't always tell which character is which for Grub and Bristle. They look identical.

[Tammi Peterman]

1. This book is about 2 single parents (a fox and a badger) and their children who move in together. The story illustrates how the 2 families meet and share their resources. Unhappy with the situation the kids devise a plan to throw a big, out of control party in order to show their parents the living situation will not work. The story is pretty easy to follow but will be best read with a parent as the piece is heavy on text bubbles and it can be difficult to follow where to go next. The illustrations are very dramatic and will help the students to see how the characters feel.

2. This book is ideal for a student from a blended family-especially students that may be struggling in this situation. The book focuses on the children's feelings of having to share their home with a new animal that is so different from them and in the end it shows that even though the animals are different they can find common ground by working together and accept one another just as the kids did in this piece to throw a successful party and eventually expand their home to make room for their new badger sister.

3. While I think the authors message is a good one it is a little "in your face" for young students and could lead to some difficult questions surrounding ideas such as widows, marriage and living together for those reasons I don't think this is a good piece for a read aloud in the classroom setting. This piece will definitely require some discussion with the intended audience which is grade 2-4.

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story: 3 stars
Art: 4 stars

Short graphic novel about a badger family who takes in a homeless fox family. The first installment of Mr. Badger and Mrs. Fox series. Apparently the two types of animals have very different personalities, habits, and interests. While the badger children are fine with the new arrangements, the young fox is unhappy about her blended family, which seems rather ungrateful to me.

Art is good but the panel flow is problematic. Sometimes it's unclear how much time is elapsing between panels (which is easy to fix), but other times the story is choppy and needs additional panels to make it work. Because of the missing panels, character reactions are sudden and inconsistent.

But it's a good premise, with obvious parallels to human families, so I'll read the next book in this series to see if it's any smoother.

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brigitte Lucianin käsikirjoittama ja Eva Tharletin "Herra Mäyränen ja rouva Repolainen" (Otava, 2007) on sarjakuva-albumi, joka käsittelee uusperheen elämää inhimillistettyjen metsäneläinten muodostamassa perhekunnassa.

Mäyräisän ja hänen kolmen lapsensa elämä muuttuu radikaalisti kun heidän kotikoloonsa saapuu kettuemo Roosa-tyttärensä kanssa. Mäyrä on jäänyt leskeksi kun taas kettu on eronnut miehestään. Vanhemmat huomaavat tulevansa hyvin juttuun keskenään ja päättävät muuttaa yhteen.

Lapset eivät sen sijaan oikein tahdo tulla toimeen keskenään, sillä kaikkihan tietävät, että rauhalliset mäyrät ja ulospäin suuntautuneet ketut ovat aivan liian erilaisia voidakseen asua yhdessä. Niinpä lapset järjestävät juhlat, joiden jälkeen he uskovat vanhempien tajuavan myös saman.

Muun muassa Brigitte Weningerin Pasi-sarjan kuvittajana tutuksi tulleen Tharletin vesivärikuvitus miellyttää silmää, eikä tarinassakaan mitään vikaa ole. Luulen, että albumia voisi suositella kaikille uusperhekuvioon totutteleville perheille vaikkapa yhdessä ääneen luettavaksi.

Sarjakuvan pohjalta on tehty animaatiosarja, jota on esitetty Pikku Kakkosessa, mutta albumeita ei suomeksi julkaisu tätä yhtä enempää. Vähemmän yllättäen, voisi joku sanoa.

[Jj · Rating 1 out of 5]

How and why this book had a starred review in Booklist is beyond me. Further, that the same publication named it a Top 10 Graphic Novel for Youth in 2011 is an insult to both readers and materials selectors. The art is very sweet and lovely, but the formatting is quite poor and I suspect the translation does little justice to the original text. Riddled with exclamation points and bad dialogue, the story whacks readers over the head with its egregious preachiness and central lesson. This limp little volume is to be avoided if at all possible.

[Beatrice Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book series depicts two families moving in together in a rather awkward way. The moral or basis for it is that different families can learn to live together and get along when single parents remarry. The art is pretty as it uses watercolor paint, something very rare in children's books. But the problem with watercolor is you often lose detail. Sometimes people's bodies or faces are very blobby and in distinct. This is especially a problem with facial expression. Sometimes are left uncertain about how someone feels because of their face and must rely on how many exclamation points are used. This first book delves into not wanting to share and not liking another person based on what species they are. Perhaps a hidden undertone about dealing with race but really it's more about dealing with another family. It has a lot of "show-don't-tell" problems. Characters say the weirdest things out of nowhere to drive home the point. For instance Mrs Fox no sooner arrives then she's saying things like "It will be good [her daughter] Ginger to have brothers and sisters." If I were Mr. Badger I'd have shown her the door immediately. There really is no story about these parents actually becoming a couple. They are moving in together. And they say things like "It's so good we get along so well." based off of one conversation. It is obvious by the end of the book that they are now "a couple". Yet there is never any real buildup or direction for that when it really needed it. That would have helped the logic of the story and lines a lot in place of all the showdon'ttell problems. And the kids are far worse with this. The kids tiptoe around watching the adults yet say such adult like things about them and the situation. Their whole goal is to split up the adults (making their love story even more necessary) but they end up getting along anyway. and say things like "we started a family". They really need to give each character their own voice and not have the kids suddenly be wise old family therapists. What this book and series does well is create a very nice world. This is a subject I have never really seen before. At least at this picture book/graphic novel level for kids. And my imagination went wild at the potential and possibilities of how this family would gel, especially the parents taking care of each other's kids and their parents falling in love. It's good though that there is some fear involved on an animal level. The author remembers these are animals and has them digging and scurrying, eating grubs and worms, running away from dogs (who for some reason do not speak). That does add a nice touch and gives things some stakes at least. Hopefully later editions will see a little more of that.

[Alba Olmos Íñiguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tentempié, Mapache y Pelusa “El encuentro trata de una familia de tejones, compuesta por Tentempié, Mapache y su padre que viven en una madriguera. Una noche cuando van a comenzar a cenar escuchan unos ruidos y se esconden, vieron aparecer a Pelusa y su mamá, que son zorras. La mamá de Pelusa les contó lo que le había llevado a aparecer en su madriguera y Papá tejón invitará a quedarse en su casa .Tentempié, Mapache y Pelusa no quieren compartir la misma madriguera, ni ser amigos ya que son diferentes; incluso intentaran romper la relación. Conforme pasan los días comenzaran a comprender lo bueno de convivir con animales diferentes
El tema que trata es la convivencia entre las familias de padres separados que se juntan para formar una nueva.
A largo de la obra encontramos animales humanizados, que viven situaciones reales a pesar de estar en un bosque, estas situaciones vividas hacen referencia a las nuevas situaciones familiares que pueden encontrar los lectores a lo largo de su vida.
El cómic lo recomendaría para la edades de entre 4 y 7 años, porque el vocabulario es sencillo y adecuado al nivel para el que está dirigido. Se emplean expresiones que usan los lectores infantiles como: “¡Un juego diez veces mejor que tu aburrido juego del escondite!”. Las imágenes pretenden trasmitir la historia sin la necesidad de los diálogos lo que da realismo a la historia haciendo uso de los tonos marrones, negros y verdes.

[Shaynning - Libraire Jeunesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Petite trouvaille du département de Bd jeunesse, nous avons ici une oeuvre en aquarelle et sur un sujet animalier plutôt sympathique et touchante.

Monsieur Edmond vit avec ses enfants , Carcajou et Glouton, ses fils, ainsi que sa petite dernière, Cassis. Un jour, une renarde entre dans leur terrier pour sollicité à manger pour elle et sa fille, Roussette, chassées de leur terrier par des chasseurs humains. Lorsque la maman renarde retourne chez elle, leur foyer est une perte. Monsieur Edmond, le coeur sur la mains, permet aux deux renardes de dormir sous leur toit. Ce n'est pas simple pour les enfants, qui visiblement, entretiennent des préjugés les uns les autres. Renards et blaireaux sont trop différents! Hélas pour eux, leurs parents décident de cohabiter. On fait même une nouvelle chambre pour Rousette! Mais les enfants, qui ne veulent pas vivre ensemble, échafaude un plan pour faire entendre raison à leur parents.

Une belle histoire sur le thème de la famille recomposée, de la famille et du partage.

Pour lecture seule, nous l'avons classée en Intermédiaire, second cycle, 8-9 ans, mais il peut plaire en lecture accompagnée auprès du premier cycle primaire, les 6-7 ans.

Catégorisation: BD fiction française, littérature jeunesse intermédiaire, second cycle primaire, 8-9 ans
Note: 7/10

[Jenna McDonagh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book Summary: A fox and her daughter have recently lost their home due to hunter finding their burrow. They come across a family of badgers and their three small children. They are offered to stay with them for a while, until they find somewhere to live. Readers will watch as a blended family becomes one and how they form a wonderful bond!

Book Review: This story is a fun, heartwarming graphic novel. It has a great message behind it and educates students on family dynamics. I would read this book to my class as a read aloud. It has a different styling of writing and the pictures are bold and engaging.

Delicious Quote: "Please share our meal, there is enough for everyone"

Book Connections: This book is part of a series of Mr.Badger and Mrs. Fox. This is the first book of the series, I would continue to read the rest of the graphic novels within the series as a connected text.

[Polarka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Milý a jednoduchý príbeh o rodine. Pán Jazvec s troma deťmi a pani Líška s dcérkou sa rozhodnú žiť spolu. Teda, dospeláci si padnú do oka a detí sa nepýtajú. Tým sa to vôbec nepozdáva a rozhodnú sa plány rodičov prekaziť. Čo je zápletka celej knihy.

Kniha ťaží najmä s veľmi pekných ilustrácií. Príbeh je ozaj jednoduchý, na 30tich stranách sa zjavne nedajú robiť veľké dejové zvraty. To môže byť výhoda pre decká, ktoré sa pustia do čítania samé.
Téma spojenej rodiny zase môže rezonovať u detí, ktoré sa práve v takej nachádzajú. Ani jedno z detí nie je nadšené z nových nevlastných súrodencov, ale naučia sa spolu vychádzať.

Body dole za občas mierne popletené dialógy, ktoré je ťažké sledovať a za trošku nekonzistentný dej. Deťom sa ale páčila, aj keď pre 7 ročnú slečnu zvyknutú na zaujímavejšie príbehy prišla kniha trošku nudná.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Herra Mäyränen ja rouva Repolainen -sarjakuvakirja toimii lähdemateriaalina Pikku Kakkosessa näytettävään samannimiseen piirrettyyn. Nyt saimme aikaiseksi lukea tämän sarjakuvakirjan unisaduksi.

Itse ihastuin ikihyviksi teokseen! Pidin eritoten siitä, kuinka tämä uusperhe muodostuu - alunperin Herra Mäyränen tarjoaa kotikoloaan kodin menettäneille rouva Repolaiselle ja tämän tyttärelle Roosalle. Lapset eivät halua asua samassa kodissa ja kutsuvat kaikki metsän asukkaat juhlistamaan tupaantulijaisia. Syntyy väärinkäsitys siitä, että herra Mäyränen ja rouva Repolainen ovat perustamassa yhteisen perheen. Lopuksi käy ilmi, ettei se olettamus taidakaan kovin väärässä olla.

Mukavasti kuvitettu teos. Välillä kuopuksen oli hankala seurata sarjakuvan kulkua.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never say never. Thay may be the moral of this lively tale.

Because the adult foxes and badgers thought the should NEVER live together with the other kind.

BUT GUESS WHAT HAPPENED?

Early on we see the normal, lively home lives of one family of badgers and also a different family of foxes. Then hunters found the fox's burrow, and that fox family had to move.

For the sake of survival, in this first book of the series about Mr. Badger and Mrs. Fox....
Mr. Badger and Mrs. Fox decided they should all live together.

Grub, Bristle, and Ginger are the kids who learn how to play together. They wind up developng tolerance.

Skunks and dogs and even a huge multi-tiered cake become part of the story. This is a lively one.

FIVE STARS

[Isabella Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel follows the friendship between a fox family and a badger family who have to learn how to live with each other after moving in together. Ginger, Mrs. Fox’s daughter, and the badger children struggle to share and work together while living together. Throughout all the fighting, the children learn teamwork, empathy, and family dynamics while navigating their differences.

I like how this story uses animals to talk about sharing, cooperation, and blended families. This book would be great for kids who are struggling to new family dynamics. I would use this book as a station for graphic novels as well as for social emotional skills.

[Drine Psylook · Rating 4 out of 5]

J’ai adoré les illustrations, surtout le character design des blaireaux – j’aime un peu moins celui des renards. J’ai également bien accroché avec l’apparence des autres animaux, je les trouve choux. Les couleurs sont toutes douces et ça m’a plu.
L’histoire est sympathique et j’ai trouvé ça mignon tout plein.
J’ai apprécié cette lecture et j’emprunterai probablement la suite afin de voir ce que les prochains nous réservent.
https://psylook.kimengumi.fr/2021/05/...

[Cindy Mooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually a children's graphic novel but I don't have a shelf for that.
I read this to my kids last night and they loved it!
Mrs. Fox and her daughter accidentally stubble upon Mr Badger's burrow while hiding from hunters. They quickly take a liking to each other and he invites them to move in. The children of course are not happy about this because of how different they are so they plan to break their parents up.
This is a great book for blended families to read to their children.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation

I don't understand why there are so many negative reviews. I thought this book was adorable and very realistic. It's a parallel of two single parents and the blending of families. In this case, a fox and a badger family. I thought the silly fights between the kids was accurate to figuring out how to all live together.

[Veera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Herra Mäyränen ja Rouva Repolainen on tuttu animaatiosarjasta, jota on ainakin Pikku Kakkosessa esitetty. En tiennyt että pohjautuu tälle sarjakuvalle, jonka sattumalta löysin.

Sarjakuva kertoo tästä kahden lajin muodostamasta uusioperheen alkutaipaleesta. Ihan hauska lisä niillekin, jotka ovat sarjaa katsoneet. Valitettavasti sarjakuvia ei ole käsittääkseni käännetty suomeksi lisää.

[Polly Paupiette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mais c’est super doux comme BD.
Appréhender la recomposition familiale n’est pas une chose facile pour les petits et cette BD fait une proposition merveilleuse et à son rythme en 30 pages.
Hâte de dévorer la suite de leurs aventures !

[Hikaoru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kid friendly introduction on blended families and the difficulties of accepting someone new in your home.
It's kinda text heavy so perhaps for older readers 8-9yo.
The watercolour illustrations are so pretty

[Ashley Aolani Salisbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story about two races learning to live with each other.

[Wolfie Smoke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good children's book about getting along, accepting people different than you, and getting to know someone before judging them.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy, quick ready. Lovely illustrations and comforting message for a young child transitioning into a blended family.

[Christelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mignon !

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic novel about blended families for youngest readers to read alone or for caregivers to share.

[Helen Pugsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty cute! Smol comic.

[Eva Lavrikova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Veľmi milé ilustrácie, pomerne citlivo spracovaný príbeh zmiešanej rodiny - no a líšky v hlavnej úlohe. Žiaden literárny skvost, ale každopádne milá a pekná knižka.

[Veronika Pizano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veľmi milá kniha o prekonávaní rozdielov a osobne v tom vidím hyperbolu na patchworkové rodiny.

[Rachel Kokes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this. It was mainly kids fighting with each other. Not a fan.