I follow the fox by Rob Biddulph

It is winter, yet despite the snow and the cold, many families are enjoying fun in the park, rolling snowballs, making snow angels and snowmen and just enjoying the fresh, crisp air. But when it is time to leave, the little boy discovers that during the fun, he has lost Little Fox, his favourite toy. Little Fox was on his sled as he pulled it up the hill but now it is nowhere to be found. Despite searching and searching, they don't find him and as darkness falls they have to go home empty-handed.

But we just couldn't find him, and now all I see
Is the space next to Big Fox where Little should be.

But as he settles down to sleep, a real fox appears at the window, and the little boy decides to follow her. Moving through the silent city streets, past snowy meadows "tucked up beneath duvets of white". to the icy rivers where the boy realises the fox has led him to something special, and that she needs his help....

This is a beautiful story in rhyme that has a magical quality about it that makes you want to keep turning the pages. Why does the fox want the boy to follow her? Where is this journey taking them? Will he find his Little Fox? Was it all a dream? Told by the little boy who has lost his toy, and with Biddulph's iconic illustrations (there is a QR code to scan to learn to draw a fox), this is a charming story that will capture little ones' imagination as they relate to having lost something precious to them, the inconsolable emotions of the loss, and the joy as the drama and ending play out.

Rob Biddulph has a way of  reaching out and connecting with young readers through both his story and his art. Gigantic is just one example - and this new release is just as powerful as it delves into that innocent world of the child who has complete faith that he will come to no harm by following the fox. Oh, to be so trustworthy and unwary and un-cynical again.

Themes: Foxes.

Barbara Braxton