- Graphic Novels
- Ages 6–10
- Comedy
Bunny vs Monkey: Rise of the Maniacal Badger
Book 5 of 11 in Bunny vs MonkeyView the full series
A fifth Bunny vs Monkey collection with a new villainous badger threatening to take over the woods. It adds a bigger shared-enemy setup while keeping the series' slapstick, inventions and loud comic chaos.
- Best for6–10
- FormatGraphic
- Length256 pp
- Read aloud~2 hr
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Comedic
- Onomatopoeic
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Absurdist
- Irreverent
- Exciting
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
The woods already have Monkey, which should be more than enough trouble for any forest community. Unfortunately, the Maniacal Badger has arrived, and he is determined to take over everything. This creates a major problem for Bunny and the gang, but also for Monkey, because world domination was supposed to be his idea. The result is a very funny escalation of the series' usual rivalry, with Bunny and Monkey pushed into the unthinkable position of needing to work together. Skunky's inventive ego, the cast's panic and the badger's overblown villainy all feed into a busy, joke-rich graphic-novel collection. Like the earlier volumes, it is episodic, visual and highly readable, but the stronger antagonist gives this one a little more forward momentum. It is a great continuation for established fans who enjoy recurring jokes, comic villains and impossible-to-calm forest disasters.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 6–10
- Read aloud · 5–10
- Independent · 6–11
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
3 / 5 · Mostly fine
Graphic intensity
2 / 5 · Mild
Best for
- Dog man fans
- Looshkin fans
- Phoenix comic readers
- Silly humour
- Visual readers
Avoid if
- Prefers calm books
- Needs clear plot
- Dislikes shouting
- Needs low visual density
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Struggling with reading
- Neurodiversity or learning differences
In the classroom
How it works in school.
Pure reading-for-pleasure fuel and a brilliant reluctant-reader hook — a forest comic kids race through, and a strong bridge into independent graphic-novel reading.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific kick is Bunny and Monkey being forced onto the same team — the maniacal badger threatens both their plans, and watching the old enemies awkwardly try to co-operate is funnier than either of them as adversaries. The structural twist a reader has been quietly waiting for since book one.
- Adventure and freedom
- Breaking the rules safely
- Having a nemesis
- Trickery and cleverness
Why parents love it
The Bunny vs Monkey where Bunny and Monkey are forced to team up — a fresh structural twist after four volumes of pure rivalry. The Maniacal Badger goes on to be one of Smart's better recurring antagonists. Reliable mid-series volume.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
- Indie gem discovery
In the series
Bunny vs Monkey.
11 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Jamie Smart.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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