Which part of the story or illustration did your child like most? Did anything puzzle them about the story? Talk about Pete – what would your child tell someone else about him? What do they think the other animals might have said to Pete about all of his tidying up? Watch an animation of the story

At the end of the story, the animals have a picnic. What food would these animals eat as part of a picnic? I laughed myself silly reading this one. I just could see what would happen to the forest, well OK I didn't totally expect that at the end, but I was close. :P Poor animals, I wonder why they didn't try harder to stop the badger. It was quite fun how it started with just cleaning here and there and then escalated to that. Make two masks, one for the badger Pete and one of the other animals in the story (eg the fox or the rabbit). You and your child could then act out imaginary conversations between the characters. This sort of play will help children think about the story, be creative and have fun too. Write a letterThis book is also about the impact humans have on the world. It has no words and uses beautifully created collage to show the progress of a scene from a window showing creeping urbanisation, over a period of possibly twenty years. The attention to detail is fascinating and the message, like the other books, is about our own part in the impact on the environment and the changes we might need to make. Badger Characters in children’s literature. Badgers feature in Wind in the Willows– Kenneth Graham, The Fantastic Mr. Fox– Roald Dahl, Badger’s Parting Gift –Susan Varley and Mr. Badger and the Big Surprise –Leigh Hobbs. None of the badgers in these books appear as active or irresponsible as Pete in Tidy, although wild badgers do go to some trouble to keep their sett clean and remove stale bedding away from any openings. It would be interesting to find out if any other behaviour traits found in the wild animals are also found in the fictional badgers. Technique in creating illustrations in picture books. Julia Eccleshare, the editorial expert on Lovereading4kids says, Prize-winning illustrator Emily Gravett’s distinctive illustrations are always full of wit bringing the unexpected into stories and injecting them all with delightful humour. There’s magic in Spells as a frog turns himself into a handsome prince – well, almost!, excellent advice for rabbits on how to spot the danger of wolves in Wolves, lots of useful tips on how to be braver than you feel in Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears, a thoughtful exploration of how home often turns out to be best despite feelings of wanderlust in Meerkat Mail, a celebration of exuberant movement in Monkey and Me and a fresh and delightful look at Dogs. Find the locations of forests in your local area. Could you visit some of them? Plan the journey there.

Why do trees have leaves? Can you find out and think of ways to share this information with others? Can you find out about different types of leaves?Can you think of a better way to show children the virtues of the forests and the dangers of losing them? I can't! The Book Bag Find out more about badgers. Where do they live? What do they eat? Can you write a report about them? The message is admirable and the cut-out cover enticing, but the greatest joy is in the comic expressions, hand-wrought images and witty detail. Sunday Times

The Window is a stunning example of collage work which may inspire creativity in illustrations of children.After really enjoying Meerkat Mail, I decided to look at some of Emily Gravett's other work. Contrasting MM, this is a very simple story, most suitable for EYFS (but still wouldn't be out of place in a KS1 book corner). A badger named Pete loves to clean the forest - to the extent that he chops it all down and replaces it with concrete, so it can never get messy ever again. But he realises that he's gone too far - both he and other animals rely on the forest. Together, they re-build it, and from now on Pete decides that only the actual rubbish should be put in the bin. A hilarious book about a badger with a big cleaning problem and what happens when things go out of hand. In Tidy, the badger, Pete initially seems to be helpfully keeping things neat and tidy in the forest. However this soon becomes obsessive behaviour that results in ecological disaster. Pete is not the reliable source of wisdom and good sense that have been attributed to badgers in other stories. It might be interesting to compare different badger characters and look at some non-fiction about the wild animals to see if there is a realistic basis for representing badgers with these characteristics.