Mr. Badger and Mrs. Fox are single parents who decide to combine their two families, despite the protests of their children who think that “badgers and foxes are not meant to live together” (23) because they’re different ani mals. Ultimately, plotting and attempting to break their parents up is what brings the little badgers and their new fox sister together. Although the step siblings in this graphic novel for developing readers are woodland animals, their new sibling rivalry and resistance to changes in family structure will resonate with children from blended families . lvb

Originally published as La Rencontre (Monsieur Blaireau et Madame Renard: 1 ) in French by Dargaud France, in 2006. Translated by Carol Klio Burrell.

Having lost their home, a fox and her daughter move in with a badger and his three children, but when the youngsters throw a big party hoping to prove that they are incompatible, their plan backfires.