Customer Reviews

Fox

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"Fox" won the 2001 Children's Book Council of Australia award for best picture book, but it's certainly not a story for little children. Illustrated by Ron Brooks (who did "John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat" among many others), the pages are bathed in reds, oranges and blacks, and has the text written in a dark scrawl, sometimes at strange angles.

Set in the aftermath of a bushfire (forest fire), a one-eyed dog befriends a magpie bird who can no longer fly and gently nurses her back to emotional health. Magpie rides on Dog's back to simulate flying, and acts as a new eye for him. This happy state is endangered when a feral Fox comes and lives with them. Fox is also damaged, but only on the inside ; he is jealous of their great friendship (due to his own inability to love) and works to destroy it. From the ending, it is not clear if he failed.

"Fox" is probably best for 8/9 years and up, as the dark imagery and open ending can be could be upsetting for small children but it is an interesting and thought provoking book for older readers.

I was first introduced to this book when my husband, an artist, brought it home from the library because he liked the stunning illustrations. When I read the book, I was floored. The archetypal imagery caused me to feel it in my whole body; I can certainly understand why it won the award. I know I would have loved this book as a child, as from a young age I was drawn to the darker aspects of life. Some children need to explore darkness. Exploring it helps them to understand how it works in their own lives. This is an amazing psychological treatment of wounding, betrayal, remorse, and finally redemption.

I'm a writer and writing teacher, and I've used this book with adults to teach them the power of archetypes. This is truly a book for all ages.

Haunting tale of betrayal that is truly frightening and powerful enough to render adults speechless and even tearful.

Unlike many fairy tales, there is no happy ending. Indeed, that's the way life often deals out betrayals, but if you're looking for some fantastic escapism, this book won't do it. It is a bit like a fable from Aesop, but without the humor.

I agree with one of my fellow reviewers who states that this would be good for older children. Might be a good way to broach the topic of cruelty, but the kids who are sadistic bullies and need to learn a lesson probably don't have parents who'd have the sensitivity to get this book.

Rich, gorgeous drawings hold so much power that even the illustrator himself admitted to being taken aback when he leafed through a copy of the Chinese translation.

This book will haunt your sleep and make you cry at night. It's about futility and betrayal and love and it is heartbreaking. It is not for small children. It is a beautiful, sad book.

"Fox" cannot be praised highly enough. Beautiful and poignant, anomalous and moving, it's my favorite children's book. The setting, characters, story are beautifully integrated and rendered. Every page is a visual stunner and the text is spot-on perfect.

One (negative) reviewer has suggested that it allegorizes an affair. Although I don't disagree that it can be read this way, few people and no children will read this as an affair. It's primarily about friendship, temptation, loneliness, desire, disability, jealousy, malice, symbiosis, etc. The physical writing, which a couple other reviewers criticize, is different from a typical children's book, but that matches every other aspect of this original work. If you require a clean font, you might not appreciate the book's handwritten text--but it's certainly not illiterate as another critic said. My four year old loves this book (though I'll admit I rate it higher than he does); at the end, he has said, "that's really sad." And it is. If you think children need happy endings or chirpy characters (mysterious, vindictive fox broods), that childhood should be all lollipops and Disneyland, skip this book. The ending isn't upbeat but it looks forward to some kind of potential redemption or reunion. In sum the book is a perfect union between writer and illustrator.

Interesting that the title of the book is "Fox" after the divisive interloper and antagonist and not Magpie after the main character. Again, this seems to be an uncompromising decision.

I also highly recommend the same author and illustrator's book "Old Pig." Even if you don't like "Fox," you should see "Old Pig." It's different and also quite unique and wonderful, beautifully treating death, but not in a dark way. Visually it's completely different as well--I can't believe it's the same illustrator.

This book is similar to a Shakespeare tale, leaving you with questions and urging you to imagine what will happen after the book is closed. I recommend this book for all middle school and high school age teens. It opens up discussions on friendship, betrayal and trust: concepts that are of great importance at that time.

Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks's Fox is a children's picturebook originally published in Australia. Written in shaky, printed script as if penned by a young child, and illustrated with powerful color drawings with just a hint of abstractionism to their art, Fox is an immersive tale of a one-eyed dog, a magpie with a burned wing, and a jealous fox who tries to end their friendship. A moving story, told in an unforgettable artistic medium, makes this unique book a children's classic.

A modern-day fairy tale set in the outback of Australia, Fox, by Margaret Wild, is a stunning and provocative piece of children's literature. It describes the lives of Dog and Magpie, who survive the aftermath of a horrible forest fire that leaves both animals injured. They band together in friendship to help each other survive, and they are met by the mysterious and haunting Fox.

Magpie's need for friendship is mitigated by her desire to fly again, but she does not trust Fox, who promises that riding on her back will be closer to flying than riding on Dog's back. After three appeals, Magpie gives in to her temptation, and Fox takes her on his back. Fox abandons her, and Magpie is left in the broiling desert to walk back home to Dog.

This book presents deep and complex issues that will not only confront our children, but also ourselves. I am moved every time I read this book, and the points of discussion that can arise out of this book are boundless. If we expect and believe that our children can think and talk big about deep issues, then this book is a must-have.

The author uses a very creative text format. The students love turning the book to read the words. The font truly looks like their writing and is very realistic to them. The color scheme in the book (I won't give it away) was very interesting. I didn't think that they would be able to infer what the red color symbolized, but I was wrong. The story was a little disturbing (my students love happy endings) but they were really excited to try writing a story that used this text format.

this book is amazing. i don't generally read children's books either, but a friend at a bookstore showed it to me. i was drawn to the illustrations and the font. so i sat down to read it. i almost cried in a bookstore. it may be presented as a children's book, but it's not for little kids. i had to go back and read it again and again to absorb everything that was being presented. this book is both profound and beautifully sad. don't be fooled by its appearance, and read it as an adult. highly highly recommended