Little Fox in the Snow by Jonathan London, illustrated by Daniel Miyares

Little Fox in the Snow

written by Jonathan London, illustrated by Daniel Miyares

Review Copy from Candlewick Press

Little Fox in the Snow is not what I expected, and wonderfully so. London delivers a tale that is as crisp and sparse as the snowy forest Miyares depicts in his illustrations. Starting in the warm den of the little fox, we follow him as hunger draws him "like a bow," into the woods where he must, "seek your target. You must hunt!" With poetic text, readers follow the fox as he flows, "like a shadow across the fields," and laps, "tiny tongue-curls of icy cold water" from a "snow-patched stream." The little fox catches a mouse, an illustration showing him with it in his mouth. Later, he captures and eats a snowshoe hare, although this happens off the page. As the fox is heading home, he thinks he smells a vixen. Instead, in a dramatic illustration, a wolverine bursts from the shadows and gives chase. The book ends with the little foxling back in his hole, in a "halo of warmth," resting until he must hunt again. Miyares illustrations successfully portray the fox as the strong hunter and the endangered hunted in a way that does not evoke emotion, allowing for a richer understanding of the natural world.