Rock, Paper, Incisors: Skunk and Badger 3

Rock, Paper, Incisors: Skunk and Badger 3 by Amy Timberlake. Illustrated by Jon Klassen. Allen & Unwin 2025. Junior Fiction hardback. RRP $19.99. ISBN 9781760877064.

Reviewed by Debra Williams

Skunk and Badger are roommates who have an easy rhythm: Skunk cooks, Badger cleans. Badger is also a writer for Rock Hound Weekly, featuring articles related to geology. A deadline is approaching for his latest article, and Badger is keen to get on with his work. However, there is a major distraction in the form of two juvenile rats, Zeno and Zephyr.

In this third book in the series, Skunk and Badger have fostered the orphaned rats. But what have they taken on? Major distractions and obstacles, that’s what! The spirited brother and sister need a lot of raising, and it’s going to take a village to raise this pair. The roommates call on the assistance of local chickens to help them... and a dinosaur. Badger consults books about rat-raising to help. And, in all the activity and confusion, Badger accidentally hibernates, thereby missing the deadline for his important article. But in the end, it doesn't matter.

This is a lovely book, written in the vein of Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh. It’s an uplifting story of achievement with the help of the local community. The author has cleverly incorporated facts about geology, rats, and cooking into a fictional tale, and with Jon Klassen’s classic-style illustrations, it has a nostalgic feel.

The recommended age group from the publisher is 7-11 years of age. Some of the language is rather formal and would suit confident readers in this age group.