Fox: A Circle of Life Story by Isabel Thomas illustrated by Daniel Egnéus

"A bushy tail. A flash of fire. The soft pad of sooty paws. Follow fox, ears pricked, nose to ground. She's caught a scent. Don't make a sound."

Fox has three lively cubs waiting in her den - "fuzzy grey cubs wait for their feast. From bird, from plants, fro water, from air flow the things foxes need to live a grow."

All is well, for now. The cubs are fed. Then disaster strikes:

"Three cubs dash across the road to the safety of the other side. But fox gets caught in the dazzling lights. The car brakes. Too late"

When I read this book today this scene made me gasp out loud. I was totally caught up in the story probably partly due to the direct nature of the narrative - you will notice the way Isabel Thomas speaks directly to the reader - and partly due to the vivid and glorious illustrations. Surely fox will survive? No sadly she does not and we watch as her "heartbeat slows, her last breath hands in the air." 

This is a children's picture book.  The main character has just died. Why did the author allow this to happen? Go back to the title. This is a book about the circle of life. The death of the fox is only half of the story. The cubs will be okay. They are big enough to hunt and forage. Their beautiful mother fox sinks into the ground. Tiny creatures arrive until all we have left are particles. The particles become grass, trees, rabbits and bees. 

"Life is everywhere. Death is not just an end, but a beginning."

Fox: A Circle of Life Story unites story and science to explain this big concept to children who have lost a pet or a loved one, or who simply are curious about death and what happens after we die. LoveReading4Kids

Take a look at these other books (below) by Isabel Thomas (she has a background in science and science writing) and Swedish born illustrator Daniel Egnéus. In this podcast Isabel talks about the topic of nature and death. The cover I put on this post does not go any where near showing you the cover which has scrumptious orange (fox orange) foil for the lettering and scattered autumn leaves. This book should be an absolutely essential purchase for all Primary school library collections.

And here a book I discussed previously illustrated by Daniel:

The Thing

I am looking forward to exploring these two new books by Isabel Thomas - both will be published later in 2021. Isabel is the author of more than 150 books - this is so impressive.