A Hubbub

Monsieur Blaireau et Madame Renarde #2

by Brigitte Luciani, Eve Tharlet (Illustrator), Edward Gauvin (Translator)

Now that Ginger Fox and her mother are living with the Badgers, life just isn't the same.

Ginger's new badger brothers like to argue. Her new badger baby sister takes up all of Mrs. Fox's time. And Mr. Badger has a lot of rules about keeping the house tidy. That's not how they used to do things back at the Fox home.

Maybe Ginger should live with her father instead. But Mr. Fox travels all the time. And Ginger really likes the new clubhouse she and her brothers built. If only they could keep those mean cats from taking over the clubhouse...

Maybe belonging to a big family has some benefits after all!

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

32 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

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

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story.

[Ietrio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining story about a rebuilt family and their differences. The fox and the badger are just a veil to present a widower and a divorced woman finding love again. The accent is put on the experience of their children. Loved all four parts!

[Beatrice Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book two of the Mrs Fox and Mr Badger series about two single parent families coming together. This one is a little better than the first. We see each parent start to parent the other's children and the consequences of that which is nice and where I think the sweet spot for this series lies. We also see the adults actually acting like a couple more which I think is also necessary for this series to even work. The addition of Mrs Fox's ex coming for "his visit" is interesting if not a bit awkward. Again the language is the problem here. They avoid completely talking about him and how the mother feels about the whole situation. I do like the interaction between the father and daughter as well as the interaction between Mr Badger and young Ginger starting to bond. The title is also very very awkward and pointless. That bugs me about the entire series. Each title is very short with no life or joy in it. The Meeting. The hubbub. It comes across like social work case files, like a policeman reporting on the incidents that led to the family all killing each other or something. None of the titles really reflect upon the story except for maybe 5.

[Danielle McCalip · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Mr. Badger and Mrs. Fox #2; A Hubbub” by Brigitte Luciani and Eve Tharlet showcases a picture book graphic novel. Because of its graphical elements of the story being in comic strip form and using strictly speech bubbles to display text, this picture book is identified as a graphic novel for young children. Ginger Fox and her mother, Marguerite Fox, are now living with a new family, the Badgers. Ginger’s new badger brothers, Bristle and Grub, like to argue and her badger sister, Berry, takes up much of her mother’s time. Ginger Fox has to learn all the new rules of her new home, one of them being to help keep things clean and tidy. One night, when all the kids go out to the clubhouse, they find to their surprise, ginger’s father! Ginger’s father takes Ginger out to spend time together, because he doesn’t see her very often. When Ginger arrives back, she sees her mother giving attention and love to the badgers. So, she runs back off to find her dad but unfortunately can’t find him causing her to be both sad and jealous once again. Edmond (father badger) then finds Ginger and tells her that he feels as though she is one of his own, making Ginger feel loved and important. Later, Ginger and her mother make amends and Ginger comes to the realization that she is happy with her new blended family with the Badgers. This small graphic novel picture book had a BIG storyline to it, and I was pleasantly surprised. I would recommend this book to any young elementary age, but students may need the help of an adult as some of the content and wording got confusing at times. The storyline was intriguing and would be a positive book to introduce to any child that may come from a blended family.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This plot is pretty complex and hard to follow... for a picture book. And to this Goodreader, the comic-style presentation makes the story quite hard to follow... And even harder to like. But here's my review anyway.

This Part 2 tale occurs a full year since Ginger and her mother moved in with the foxes. We readers are treated to dialog of characters trading insults. Or else blurting out little sentences with no elegance or nuance. For instance:

* "Stop it, or you'll wreck everything."
* "How about a picnic while the furniture dries in the air?"

Personally, I couldn't stand this book.

RATING THIS BOOK

My policy, Goodreaders, is to rate books based on the likely reactions of the intended readership. I imagine that picture-loving "readers" can get some reading practice from this book. And they have no idea that the charmless, action-packed scenes are not really much like a book, but more like a TV show that has been gussied up to appear like a "Graphic Universe" kind of story.

FIVE STARS it is then. If this is what it takes to pry children from their streaming entertainment and actually read on their own, that's all to the good.

[Polarka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Druhý diel komiksovej série sa mi vidí o kus lepší. Priznáva sústredenie sa na rodinné vzťahy a dej je v pozadí. Rieši sa klasická neistota detí, či ich rodičia (adoptívni aj biologickí) majú radi. Alebo menej ako ostatných súrodencov. A to sa týka aj detí z bežných viacdetných rodín.
Láska rodičov je ilustrovaná na pekných a zrozumiteľných príkladoch. Páči sa mi, že všetky povahové vlastnosti členov sa akceptujú a len prispôsobujú novému rodinnému životu.
Skrátka fajná práca s detskou psychológiou.

Mínus za tie isté veci, ako v pri prvej knihe: mierne zmätené dialógy, zle oddelené časové skoky v deji a málo akcie. Opäť, deckám sa páčila, čítali sme ju opakovane.

[fatru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Bahasa Indonesia translation: it's a bit awkard but it is cute nonetheless

[Sarah W · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second Mr. Badger and Mrs. Fox graphic novel. This title was orignally printed in France in 2007. The US edition is from 2010 with Edward Gauvin providing translation. I love the cover. It gives a taste of a traditional storybook cover, but one corner reveals the comic panels underneath. The artwork is delightfully charming.

Young animals in this graphic novel come up with some interesting insults: snot-snout, slug brain & skunk fart. It turns out that the two young badgers are teaching Ginger, the young fox, to argue. I'd love to have the clubhouse these three woodland creature kidlets have. Way cooler than the one I had in an empty lot in fifth grade.

Best line ever: "You're mixing up mean and strict." Kids have a lot of trouble differentiating those two.

Three animals sneak out at night to work on the clubhouse. The journey was interrupted by one tiny badger, one owl and one parent fox. Ginger's dad has arrived for a visit. The middle of this book could be an interesting discussion point for kids in families that are breaking apart. Ginger can't handle it when the youngest badger calls Ginger's mother Mom.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

For the most part the book was cute, and the illustrations were pretty cute. There are a few learning experiences in here, including a brief mention on the difference between being mean and being strict. Which I feel is important because with my experiences doing child care that can be a big issue. So I liked how they pointed that out because not many people do.

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story: 4 stars
Art: 4 stars

Children's graphic novel about a young fox trying to find her place in a blended family. The second installment of the Mr. Badger and Mrs. Fox series. Strong family dynamics. Panel flow is smoother than it was in the first book, though there are still a few time lapses that are not captioned or obvious.

[Terry]

Love the format and the uniqueness of the story. I have not seen a story (regardless of format) tackle the subject of being in a new family as effectively as this does. Young readers with siblings or a new family will relate to Ginger's emotions.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accidentally read this one first, but it didn't seem to be an issue. Very cute book, and I love the idea of using animals to show a very unique blended family.

[babyhippoface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing stellar. Cute, and some kids will like it for the pictures, but for me, the story lacks adventure and excitement.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The badgers and foxes are so cute in this series and the dynamics of siblings is captured perfectly.

[PuPilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Az illusztrációkat továbbra is imádom, és örültem, hogy reális problémákat hoz fel a csonka családok életéből. Tesók, féltesók, kit szeret jobban anya és apa, mi van ha felbukkan az igazi apa stb.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children's graphic novel dealing with blended families.

[Samantha Heater · Rating 4 out of 5]

ok

[Hillvan]

GN240L

[DeA · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute early reader graphic novel for children. This one has a cute story mostly focusing on the young fox sister and how she perceives family. If you haven't read the first one, that's completely fine as the story just picks up on a random day in the families lives. Recommend to any family with young children.