Shortlisted for the 2025 Children's Wainwright Prize for Picture Books

A funny and relatable picture book in which Pete the Badger, star of Emily Gravett's award-winning books Tidy and Too Much Stuff, learns valuable lessons about the importance of all creatures, big and small, in maintaining the harmony of nature.

In Bothered By Bugs, Pete the Badger is choosing a delicious recipe from his new fruit cookbook when his peace is interrupted by a teeny tiny fly. The fly becomes a swarm and soon all the animals are being bothered by bugs and insects of all kinds--so they help Pete rid the forest of bugs by capturing every single one. But...disaster! Now nobody's around to clean up the poo, and come autumn, there's not a berry or a cherry to be found. Will Pete and the other animals learn their lesson and restore order to the forest?

Two-time Kate Greenaway Medal winner Emily Gravett's wonderfully humourous rhyming story is a colourful celebration of nature's equilibrium, promising fun, laughter, and learning. The perfect book to read aloud.