“Like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day.”

— Kirkus (August 2025)

Skunk and Badger have an easy roommate rhythm—Skunk cooks! Badger cleans!—when they take in two orphaned rat pups, Zeno and Zephyr. Badger is working on an Important Rock Work article for Rock Hound Weekly and needs focus, focus, focus to write it. But how much trouble could two tiny rats really be? Some scheduling, a few strategically placed naps, and all will be well!

But it’s winter, and nothing goes to plan. Hibernation threatens every routine. Articles refuse to write themselves. And rats in the rock room? It will take a North Twist village to raise these rats!

“Parenting, it seems, is tough, whether you’re a human, a badger or a skunk...The third in the Skunk and Badger series, this edition is very gifty, with beautiful, wintry black and white illustrations and sketches from fellow author Jon Klassen. It carries an undercurrent of what Beatrix Potter and Kenneth Grahame did so well in the Peter Rabbit books and The Wind in the Willows; bringing empathy and idiosyncratic personality to creatures in a world that is cosy, but also, fraught with obstacles.”
— Irish News 12/27/25
“I’m considerably older than this book’s target audience, but if you’re looking for something fun to read, Amy Timberlake’s Skunk and Badger stories will not disappoint. Illustrated by Canadian-born Jon Klassen, the eponymously named first volume in the trilogy was published in 2020 and helped keep me sane during COVID. I read it multiple times, delighting in the difficulties Badger had when Skunk suddenly appeared on the doorstep of his home, red suitcase in hand, and announced that Aunt Lula, a “pine marten with impeccable fur” who owned the house, had suggested he move in with Badger. Skunk turned Badger’s quiet existence into a roller-coaster ride. Rock Paper Incisors, the newest book in the series (Egg Marks the Spot appeared in 2021), is set in winter; Skunk and Badger have formed a close bond, but their home life remains chaotic thanks to Zeno and Zephyr, two young orphaned rats they’ve taken in. Badger is still working with rocks and writing about them; chickens still come and go; and now we also have bears in the brownstone — at least until spring when hibernation practices end. .”
— Bernie Goedhart, Montreal Gazette 1.29.26

Good News!

Rock Paper Incisors was called a 2025 Best Book of the Year by the Chicago Public Library. It also got a VERY nice review in Booklist. (See below.) Kirkus? “Like a Like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day.” And? Indigo Books in Canada has made Rock Paper Incisors a pick of the month. Also? Illinois Reading Council has selected Rock Paper Incisors for the 2026 Illinois Reads.

What else? What Else?

In December, I did an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio’s Kate Archer Kent. Listen HERE. Glacial talk abounds. Ha! And? Scholastic Book Club interviewed me for schools in the United Kingdom!

YAY!

“…Timberlake’s character work shines as a variety of creatures pop in and out of the story and Skunk and Badger are pushed to their limit. Kids besting adults is always funny, and Zephyr and Zero do it better than most. Sweetness underscores all, as the community rallies around their care and Badger discovers he might love something more than rocks.”
— Booklist 8.1.25
““…sophisticated… with plenty of humor ...readers will likely recognize themselves or others they know in Badger’s difficulty in dealing with the unexpected.””
— Horn Book 11.1.25

What does the book look like?

Do I own Badger’s Typewriter?

Alas, no! I own a similar typewriter (a 1937 Remington Rand Model 1). In North Twist, woodpeckers make the best typewriters so Badger’s typewriter is a Picidae Portable.

from the journey