February 2017 Book of the Month |In a nutshell: gentle badgers versus greedy farmers, no contest! | Could badgers take the place of penguins at the top the charts of cuddly, lovable stars of children’s books? Certainly, if Badger Bill is anything to go by. His happy life is horribly interrupted when he is snatched by the thoroughly nasty Maude and Ethel McGloone. They plan to force him into a boxing match with their vicious dogs, and they’ve got equally mean plans for a family of llamas they’re holding hostage too. Fortunately, help is on the way in the shambling form of Uncle Shawn, one of the kindest and best humans in the world. The Dahlesque wickedness of the McGloones forms a wonderful contrast to the gentle benevolence shown by Uncle Shawn and there’s a zany, madcap humour and surreal logic to it all which is delightfully engaging.
It would be fun to compare Ethel and Maude with Aunts Sponge and Spiker in James and the Giant Peach. Children who enjoy the mix of crazy comedy, jeopardy and warmth will also appreciate Philip Ardagh’s stories of The Grunts. ~Andrea Reece
Uncle Shawn and Bill and the Almost Entirely Unplanned Adventure Synopsis
The first book in a hilarious, heart-warming series for children from Costa Award-winning author A. L. Kennedy, illustrated by Gemma Correll.
Badger Bill needs rescuing. He's been kidnapped by two nasty sisters who are about to make him fight a boxing match against three even nastier dogs.
The four most depressed llamas in the history of llamas need rescuing too. They are about to be turned into llama pies.
But never fear - Uncle Shawn is here! He loves rescuing things. He has a rescuing plan, which involves dancing, and a mole, and an electric fence. What could possibly go wrong?
A.L. Kennedy is the author of three works of non-fiction, and five short story collections including All The Rage. Her seventh novel Serious Sweet will appear this year. She won the Costa Book of the Year for her novel Day, has twice been selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists and is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Society of Literature. She is also a dramatist and broadcaster and she has a regular blog with The Guardian Online. She lives in London.
