Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 3-5. The adult narrator writes in the first person about her encounters with a lame fox near her home on Deer Isle, Maine. Written with an awareness of ecological issues as well as a love of animals that will draw children to the story, Mason's account will have readers wishing they, too, could have close encounters with the wild. This picture book for older readers is well designed and features softly shaded, full-color artwork on every page, from small vignettes to double-page spreads. A short, appealing story for larger collections. ~--Carolyn Phelan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
``Have you ever touched the nose of a wild red fox? I have.'' With this pleasingly disconcerting opening, Mason leads readers into the wonder of her relationship with an unexpected backyard visitant. When a maimed fox accepts her offering of chicken, Mason grows curious about her skittish forest neighbor and deliberates about how far she should intervene in saving his life. Vicky--as the fox comes to be called--savors Mason's treats (especially blueberry muffins), although he never abandons his wild nature. But one memorable night, as friends watch ``the rippling pink and lavender curtains of the northern lights,'' the bushy-tailed animal joins the group--a leaping, somersaulting form among spellbound human shadows. Surrounded by Stammen's strikingly poignant and elegantly rendered pastel illustrations, the book's sustantial text rests not on poetic power alone, but also on the natural eloquence of a truly told event. Indeed, Mason checks tender yearnings with a conversational tone, weaving in pertinent facts and telling of experiences rather than of feelings, all of which lend force to the softly dramatic and bittersweet ending. Mason communicates her innate awe at reaching across the chasm that separates civilized intelligence from feral instinct, and her riveting book pinpoints that charged, mysterious intersection where humans can meet the wild without taming it. Ages 5-13. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
Maine environmentalist Mason tells of her half-year relationship with a young red fox crippled by a steel-jawed trap. The fox feeds on tidbits from the kitchen and, as time passes, permits Mason occasional insights into fox behavior. Supported by fine illustrations, the story lacks the drama and resolution satisfying to young readers and is short on the facts necessary to bring it to wider use as an informational book. From HORN BOOK 1993, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A journalist/wildlife advocate who lives on Maine's Deer Isle recounts her friendship with a three-legged fox. She first observed him when he had just escaped from a steel trap; feeding him while he healed, she won his trust. The leisurely narrative describes ``Vicky's'' behavior that spring and summer--his fondness for blueberry muffins, his moonlight antics, his renewed ability to hunt. In the fall, he returned to the wild, his departure accompanied with a gentle homily (addressed more to readers than to the fox) on hazards to avoid, especially man. Longer than Faith McNulty's Orphan (1992) and not quite so gracefully phrased, but with similar appeal. McAllister's beautifully observed art is precisely rendered in softly muted tones; portraits and lively spreads are supplemented with charming initial vignettes to punctuate the solid blocks of text. Handsome and appealing. (Nonfiction. 5+)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
