BADGER'S PARTING GIFTS

by Susan Varley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 8, 1984

Hollow echoes of The Wind in the Willows. In watercolored drawings with a rough resemblance to Ernest Shepard's, Badger first ponders his death, then peacefully goes to his death (seated in his rocker, by the fire). . . in a dream of running and tumbling down a Long Tunnel, ""as if he had fallen out of his body."" Reading his good-bye note, his animal friends remember his goodness, and weep. ""The snow covered the countryside, but it didn't conceal the sadness that Badger's friends felt."" Then, one by one, each remembers something Badger had taught him: Mole, how to cut a chain of moles from a piece of folded paper; Frog, how to skate; Fox, how to knot a tie properly; Mrs. Rabbit, how to bake a gingerbread rabbit. These, they decide, are Badger's ""parting gifts."" And, come spring, Mole says ""Thank you, Badger""--""believing that Badger would hear him. And. . . somehow. . . Badger did."" Facile, trite emotionalism that capitalizes on the emotional richness of the look-alike original.

Pub Date: May 8, 1984

ISBN: 0688115187

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1984

Categories: CHILDREN'S