A kit story

Throughout the four seasons of the year, a fox kit explores the world outside its den. The book opens with a woodland scene featuring multiple animals as the first-person narrator poses a question directly to readers: "I am a fox. Do you see me?" It is springtime, and while the other animals are active during the day and night, the little fox prefers to "slink" at dusk and dawn. The story quickly transitions to summer, and readers follow the agile young fox as it hunts, feeds, and sleeps. In the autumn, we see the fox playing with its sister and chasing rabbits. The closing spreads find the winsome creature in its den with its family as they "curl into slumber balls" for the winter. With the verbal motif compared to used all throughout the story, the kit points out how it is dissimilar to other wild creatures. For instance, compared to hummingbirds, who fly near the kit as it speeds across the grass, the kit is slow; but compared to a turtle, the kit is fast. The text features descriptive action verbs: The fox sees lambs who gambol, owls who swoop, and its sister who leaps and pounces. Animals are slightly anthropomorphized (a turtle glares at the kit as it races by, and the kit refers to its mother as "my mama") but not problematically. Overall, children learn the basics about the habitats, habits, and diet of foxes (though the kit is not shown eating other animals). Rendered in gouache, colored pencil, ink, and digital mixed media, the soft, cozy illustrations are warm and inviting. An endearing introduction to the life of a fox kit. (Board book. 2-4) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.