Little Foxes [Audio CD]

Michael Morpurgo (Author), Bill Wallis (Narrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Bullied at school, nagged at home, there's only one place Billy feels really alive and happy—in the wilderness by the canal. There he watches over a family of fox cubs as they grow toward maturity. Then his secret is discovered, and the fox family is decimated. Unwanted, unloved, Billy and the one surviving fox cub run for their lives. Michael Morpurgo’s compassionate story finds hope—and finally happiness—in the life of a vulnerable child, with beautifully detailed observations of wildlife.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6 Abandoned at birth, Billy Bunch, now ten, has lived in a string of foster homes. He stutters, does poorly in school, and has no friends, finding consolation in an abandoned churchyard and its environs where he watches birds and other wildlife. It is here that he rescues a deux ex machina in swan shape from some vicious boys, and is miraculously cured of his stutter. He also finds a family of foxes, and when the vixen is run over, Billy rescues one of the cubs and runs away with it (aided and abetted here and there by the d.e.m.). Ultimately, Billy finds a home and a family, the fox returns to the wild, and the d.e.m., ``her mission accomplished at last,'' heads for the swannery. This is overwritten in spots and has other weaknesses to boot (Billy, portrayed as a keen nature observer, fails to notice the swan's bright red leg band for months). As it stands, this plot is too contrived to be convincing. Patricia Manning, Eastchester Public Library, N.Y.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

""A prizewinning import: sensitive, perceptive, and well-told." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Audio CD
• Publisher: BBC Audiobooks (January 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405655739
• ISBN-13: 978-1405655736
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 6.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,883,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Novel for Animal Lovers, November 16, 2004

By 

Erika Sorocco (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little Foxes (Paperback)

Abandoned at birth, ten-year-old Billy Bunch has never had it easy. He's gone from orphanage to foster home, all to end up with Aunty May, in her tenth-floor council flat, and to be bullied by bigger kids at school. The only place where Billy feels loved, and truly at home and peace is in the wilderness by the canal. There, Billy finds a lovely water cygnet, and helps her to escape teenage tormentors; as well as a family of foxes, whom he tries to protect from danger. However, when the Mother is hit by a car, and three of the cubs are killed, Billy decides that he must run away with the last remaining cub, in order to protect him from death by man.

As an animal lover, I have read many books involving children and teenagers who love and protect animals, and LITTLE FOXES is on my list of the absolute best. Michael Morpurgo has created a wonderful story that tugs at your heartstrings, and will have the reader sympathizing both with Billy, and the last remaining fox cub. Not only is the story a work of wonderful fiction, but it also shows the reader some realities, including how hard it is to be a defenseless animal, as well as the horrors of being hunted by man. Overall, this is a wonderful new animal story for all ages that shows the bond between a young boy and the only friend he's ever had, a fox.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper