Come and meet Bad Panda – the fabulously hilarious new young fiction novel from Swapna Haddow and Sheena Dempsey. (Psst: at the bottom of this review, you’ll be rewarded with a fun Panda Quiz!).

From the dynamic duo that brought us Dave Pigeon, I’m quite sure that Bad Panda is also going to be huge hit.

Poor Panda. Her real name is Lin, she’s an “absolute rotter” – she HATES being cute. Anything to do with being cute – ice-cream, bubbles, fluffy blankets – she dislikes them all. With huge, panda-like passion.

But. It hasn’t always been like this. Nope. Something happened to make her like this, and as with all great stories – this book sets out to tell us why…

It involves a zoo, lots of publicity and a glorious friend named Fu, as two very determined pandas set out to prove that Lin is the absolute WORST animal in the zoo. Turns out… that’s not quite so easy.

Bad Panda is filled with warmth and humour shining out from Haddow’s words and Dempsey’s artwork. It’s a real treat, with a lovely mix of comic panels and text filled pages. I adored the references to Dave which flew into the story.

Wonderful, wonderful twist at the end which I just know little readers are going to LOVE.

An absolute corker, filled with chuckles!

Oh… and the Panda Quiz I promised you? Step right up…

PANDA QUIZ

1. In what country can you find giant pandas living in the wild?
2. What do pandas mostly eat?
3. How many times a day do pandas poo?
4. What are male pandas called?
5. How many hours do pandas spend eating every day?
6. What is a baby panda called?

Bonus questions:

7. What’s black and white and red all over?
8. How does a panda fry an egg?

ANSWERS

1. China
2. Bamboo
3. 40-50 times a day (!)
4. Boars
5. 12 hours
6. A cub

Bonus answers:

7. A panda rolling in ketchup
8. In a pan, duh.