I dedicate this book to my brother Ryan.

Early one morning, as the birds start their sweet songs, Father Badger is awakened by the sound of his groaning stomach. He scurries through the maze of tall grass in search of food to feed the hungry badger family. Mother Badger stays near the burrow until Father Badger comes back with food.

During the morning it is hot and windy. Mother Badger and her young badgers are practicing learning how to defend themselves and catch food. Mother Badger is a perfectionist so the young badgers have to behave and listen to her.

Later that day, as the younger badgers are racing home in the darkness, they aren’t alone. Something is watching from the treetops staring at every movement. It is planning to attack the unaware badgers in the dim light of the moon and the twinkling gem like stars.

Before long, the snake strikes. Father Badger jumps behind a boulder for cover. Then he crouches – his tail springs up. Suddenly the snake gets squirted with a surprise shot of musk, blinding the snake’s vision. Almost frozen in fear, the snake slithers away never to disturb a badger again. Moral: Never go near a relative of the skunk.

About the Author

Robert Leonard is a student in Mrs. Mattson’s 3rd grade class. He likes to play baseball. He also likes to read books about nature and enjoys watching his snake eat live mice or rats. He enjoyed making this book because, he thinks making collages is fun.

This is one of the many books that came to life while students in Mrs.

Mattson’s 3rd grade class explored the rich relationship between visual

imagery and the written word. This book was created as a part of Image-

Making Within the Writing Process, a dynamic art-and-literature-based

approach to writing developed by Beth Olshansky at the University of New

Hampshire. Image-Making uses hand-painted textured papers as the raw

materials for creating collage stories and poetry. Unlike a more traditional

writing process, within Image-Making the pictures always come first. This

offers students with diverse learning styles essential visual and kinesthetic

tools for rehearsing, drafting, and revising their ideas long before setting

pencil to paper. Image-Making was validated by the US Department of

Education as an “innovative and effective literacy program” in 1993. Today

children around the world use this process to create books in many

languages.

Spring, 2010