The Secret Life of the Red Fox by Laurence Pringles - ESSENTIAL

Pringle, Laurence   The Secret Life of the Red Fox  Illustrated by Kate Garchinsky. Unpaged. Boyds Mills Press, 2017. $16.95. NONFICTION PICTURE BOOK.

This narrative nonfiction follows a female fox, called a vixen, through a typical year, starting in a winter den, through a summer of raising kits, to early fall, when she says goodbye to the young foxes who are now ready to seek their own territories. With stunning illustrations of pastels and acqua crayons on rough paper, the reader is introduced to the red fox's hunting and eating habits, nesting preferences, secretive tendencies, physical characteristics, and mating patterns. New words are italicized in the text and defined in the glossary at the back. Two pages titled "More About the Red Fox" add additional facts about this most widely distributed wild predatory land mammal. I now understand, for example why I always have to stop and consider carefully if foxes are related to dogs or cats. (They are canines, but have many cat-like characteristics like whiskers, retractable claws, pouncing hunting habits, and vertical pupils.) This is an excellent book for your nonfiction section, and a perfect pair for the many fiction stories that feature a fox.

EL (4-6) - ESSENTIAL. Reviewed by P. K. Foster, teacher-librarian