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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
I love this book! It was a perfect read-aloud for my kids. It has the perfect touch of suspense and horror within a beautiful tale of survival and love. It was brilliantly written!
WOW! What a CRAZY adventure that was. So many twists, turns! A great mix of horror, thrill, adventure, love, and great themes of loyalty, growing up, and facing your fears!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm a sucker for foxes and books that are short stories but interconnected short stories. This book was clever and fun to read and has appeal for more them just middle grade readers.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Two young foxes face terrifying creatures, unforgiving wilderness, haunting memories, and other perils as they fight their way home. A brilliant, suspenseful tale of courage, friendship, and the importance of listening until the end.
Junyi Wu’s illustrations—be still my heart—are absolutely gorgeous. And the alternating black page and white page sections? Lovely.
As an added bonus, if you’ve ever wondered how a fox might swear, this is the book for you. (Still kid-friendly, I assure you, it’s a middle-grade novel and there are no human swears).
I’m astounded at how many of the one and two star reviews here stated they simply stopped reading, deeming the story too dark for children (um, original fairy tales, anyone?), and missing the point by miles. Reading those reviews reminded me of Dumbledore’s commentary that immediately follows the chapter “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart” in The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Fairy tales and fables aren’t meant to be nothing but sweetness and frills. It defeats their purpose.
Be patient, little foxes, it’s worth reading until the end.
Junyi Wu’s illustrations—be still my heart—are absolutely gorgeous. And the alternating black page and white page sections? Lovely.
As an added bonus, if you’ve ever wondered how a fox might swear, this is the book for you. (Still kid-friendly, I assure you, it’s a middle-grade novel and there are no human swears).
I’m astounded at how many of the one and two star reviews here stated they simply stopped reading, deeming the story too dark for children (um, original fairy tales, anyone?), and missing the point by miles. Reading those reviews reminded me of Dumbledore’s commentary that immediately follows the chapter “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart” in The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Fairy tales and fables aren’t meant to be nothing but sweetness and frills. It defeats their purpose.
Be patient, little foxes, it’s worth reading until the end.
I'd seen a positive review for this book, but had forgotten about it until it got the Newbery Honor. Instantly put it on hold, finally got the print book... and then COVID hit. By the time I'd had it for 10 weeks or so, a curious thing happened: we discovered we had foxes living under our shed. I took that as a sign it was time to read it.
I would have given this a '5' had it been a bit more accurate. What bothered me was the assertion that foxes have poor eyesight at night; this is not the case. Perhaps that worked better for the plot.
There were enough little twists, including the "famous" cameo, a bigger twist right at the end, and lots of suspense that made this interesting. The style of the book itself matched the themes of the story. The writing was exquisite in parts, complex enough that at times I had to re-read sentences. (and look up "gekkering"). Trying to see and interpret things in the mind of a fox was challenging at times (just what did they eat on page 146?)
I really enjoy books that inspire me to do some further research; I looked up both the famous person and a lot about foxes. I'm not sure how much longer the three foxes will be in my backyard, but it certainly added a lot to my reading!
I would have given this a '5' had it been a bit more accurate. What bothered me was the assertion that foxes have poor eyesight at night; this is not the case. Perhaps that worked better for the plot.
There were enough little twists, including the "famous" cameo, a bigger twist right at the end, and lots of suspense that made this interesting. The style of the book itself matched the themes of the story. The writing was exquisite in parts, complex enough that at times I had to re-read sentences. (and look up "gekkering"). Trying to see and interpret things in the mind of a fox was challenging at times (just what did they eat on page 146?)
I really enjoy books that inspire me to do some further research; I looked up both the famous person and a lot about foxes. I'm not sure how much longer the three foxes will be in my backyard, but it certainly added a lot to my reading!
Cute book. It was a little creepy and I love that it has Beatrix Potter as a scary part! These foxes are so so brave and great.