Little fox in the snow /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Follow a young red fox on a snowy day in this striking glimpse of woodland life in winter from Jonathan London and Daniel Miyares.

Little foxling, where will you go?
A red fox emerges from its burrow one wintry morning, a fiery streak against stark white surroundings, driven by hunger and curiosity to investigate its world. Encountering a mouse, a hare, and a wolverine, the little fox takes on the role of both hunter and hunted before returning to the safety of its den, where -- perhaps -- it dreams of something more. Jonathan London's poetic text and Daniel Miyares's stunning impressionistic paintings provide an evocative portrait of a fox and its place in the natural world.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

In this account of a day in the life of a young fox by London (the Froggy series), the first spread peeks into the animal's den. In the velvety dark, a beam of sunlight strikes the curled-up fox. It opens one eye and wakes: "You stretch,/ then follow your breath.../ out into the snow./ Little foxling, where will you go?" A fox must eat. It nabs a mouse but needs more. A snowshoe hare loses the chase, "no match/ for a fleet-footed fox." It drinks, in a wide-view scene that takes in the stream and the bare trees beyond. After evading a wolverine in a heart-pounding series of spreads, the fox returns to its burrow and the sun sets. "Little foxling, what do you dream?" the narrator wonders, and Miyares (That Is My Dream!) paints the forms of a vixen and a fox family as constellations in the winter sky. London energetically conveys an animal's primal concerns, while Miyares's rough strokes and bold washes emphasize a winter forest's web-of-life realities and stark beauty. Ages 4-8. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Review

Gr 1-3-A little fox sticks his head out of his snug hole in the early morning. He sets off to hunt in the cold snow. At first he catches only a mouse, but a hare comes along to satisfy his hunger. After a refreshing drink, the little fox stops for a good sniff. His attention is caught by the smell of a she-fox. Before he can pursue the vixen though, he comes across something much more dangerous (a wolverine) and must flee as fast as he can back to his tree. The poetic language that London uses makes this a great book for reading aloud. The naturalistic adventures of the young fox are both accurate and exciting, portraying the beauty and the danger that exists in the wild. Miyares's gorgeous ink-and-watercolor illustrations match the text word for word, providing a beautiful complement to the descriptions given. -VERDICT A compelling look at predators and prey and the stark realities of life in the wild. Recommended for collections looking for realistic winter-themed tales.-Heidi Grange, Summit Elementary School, Smithfield, UT © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

From sunrise to sunset, one day in the life of a solitary red fox is expressed poetically. After waking up in his cozy burrow, the young fox goes hunting for breakfast. He pounces and catches a mouse, which serves to only whet his appetite, so he chases down a snowshoe hare to complete his meal. A narrator tells readers what the fox is doing but also asks questions of the young animal: Little foxling, where will you go? You flow like a shadow across the fields. You leave little paw prints behind in the snow. Ink-and-watercolor illustrations deftly reveal the small fox with brushstrokes that mimic the animal's rust-colored fur. Dark trees contrast with the bright white-blue-gray snow, while the animal and the flaming sunset stand out in pink and red. The fox quickly changes from predator to potential prey, revealing how dangerous life can be for the young animal. Lyrical language with subtle rhymes creates an easy-to-read nature tale about a small creature surviving in a vast winter landscape.--Maryann Owen Copyright 2018 Booklist

Horn Book Review

A young fox hunts in the snow and looks for a vixen whose scent he's detected. A hungry wolverine chases him back to his den, where he settles down for the night. Occasional rhyming words and alliteration add richness to the text, and ink and watercolor illustrations capture the winter light and animals' movement. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

In the snowy forest, a little fox is in turn the hunter and the hunted.Opening on a young fox tucked safely inside his burrow, the second-person narration describes the fox's day as he explores the snowy expanse, captures lunch, and surprises a wolverine, shifting the young fox from predator to prey. After a ferocious chase, the fox escapes and settles in to sleep, the narrator musing about the fox's potential future as father to kits of his own. The tale unfolds in expressive free-form poetry. The short, evocative lines beautifully capture the dreamy stillness of the fox's wandering, "lap[ping] tiny tongue-curls of icy cold water," but deftly alternate with lines that burst forth with the urgency of the chase: "Little foxyou must go go go!" London's fox is clearly wild, not a storybook animal, and Miyares doesn't shy away from authenticity either, with the fox's snacks shown realistically (though without gore). His painterly watercolors showcase the forest's vastness and the rust-red fox, whose toothy gray shadow blazes against gleaming white snow. The fox exudes dignity and complexity, with the agile animal breaking the frame of an action-packed hunting page but also presenting as tiny and imperiled when pursued. While the story itself is a tad slight, words and art effectively convey the fox's fluctuating role in the forest ecosystem.An ideal introduction to nature's complexities, wrapped up in an unexpectedly poetic package. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Jonathan London was born a "navy-brat" in Brooklyn, New York, and raised on Naval stations throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. He received a Masters Degree in Social Sciences but never formally studied literature or creative writing. He began to consider himself a writer about the time he graduated from college. After college he became a dancer in a modern dance company and worked at numerous low-paying jobs as a laborer or counselor. He wrote poems and short stories for adults, earning next to nothing despite being published in many literary magazines. For some 20 years before he penned his first children's book, London was writing poetry and short stories for adults. In the early 1970s, he was reading his poems in San Francisco jazz clubs, and those experiences found their way into his witty children's book Hip Cat, which has been featured on the PBS children's television show Reading Rainbow.

After writing down the tale The Owl Who Became the Moon in 1989, London began to wonder if other people might want to read it. He picked up his kids' copy of Winnie-the-Pooh and saw that the book was published by Dutton, so he casually decided to send his story to them. Surprisingly enough, they wanted to publish him. Working with different illustrators, and occasionally with co-authors, London has produced literally dozens of books. Most have appeared under his name, but some have come out under a pseudonym, which still remains a secret.He has published over forty books and has earned recognitions from organizations like the National Science Teachers Association.

(Bowker Author Biography)