The Fast Little Fox - Jill Horton - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Jill Horton
GENRE: Children's Picture Book.
PUBLICATION DATE: November 26, 2021
RATING: 4.5 stars.

A delightful children’s picture book with a sweet message as well.

Freddy Fox is a vivacious little fellow. He runs around everywhere and ignores any warnings given to him by his family and friends about being more careful of his surroundings and more mindful of others. One fine day, when Freddy is scampering in the forest as usual, he ends up messing Skipper Skunk’s lawn, crashing into a pond and splashing water over the ducks swimming there, and knocking down Beatrice Bear’s berries. As he continues running, he realises that he has gone a bit too far, literally – he has no idea where he is! Fortunately for him, Reno Ringtail is nearby and helps Freddy make amends for his earlier mistakes and reach home safely. Reno also helps Freddy understand the error of his ways.

This is a lovely little story, full of action on every page. Kids will surely understand why Freddy wants to rush everywhere and make the most of his day, but they will also realise through Freddy’s mistakes how risky it can be to ignore well-meant warnings from those around you.

The book is a perfect balance of fun and moral. The varied animals lend an added charm to the story. The vivid illustrations are the icing on the cake. The animals are drawn in an adorable way and add a lot of cuteness to the book.

The content is divided into 2-4 paragraphs on most pages, with each paragraph containing 1-4 simple sentences. Only one page has a bit too much content, but I guess this was needed to preserve the sanctity of the formatting – story on one side and its related illustration on the other.

The language is very easy to understand and if read aloud, even kids as young as 2 or 3 years old will grasp the values of the story. While it is mainly aimed at the preschool level, the book will work wonderfully for children aged 2-8.

The only change I would make to the book is to have a consistent reference to Reno. He is called “ringtail” on some pages and “ring-tailed cat” on the rest. While both are alternative names for the same animal, children might get confused, and might even assume that Reno is a kind of cat instead of a member of the raccoon family. I would have preferred it being called “ringtail” throughout.

Overall, I loved this sweet little story. Definitely recommended to homes, schools and libraries.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author through ‘Lucy Talks Books’ and these are my honest thoughts about it.

The book is free for KU subscribers.

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