Discover Scary Stories For Young Foxes Engineered By Christian McKay Heidicker Format Printable Format

the right amount of scary for kids who like scary things, Not too predictable. All kinds of danger met these fox friends, Rabies depicted quite horrifyingly, hunters and taxidermists, a sadistic father of a disabled fox, and swamp monsters, Intermingled are short passages of little foxes being told these scary stories by a storyteller and as the novel progresses, individual kits decide they've had enough scares and decide to return home to mama.
It makes it okay and normal for kids to selfcensor if they're getting too scared, just like the fox kids, Still had a happy ending and lots of good lessons throughout, I love foxes. I just I love them so much, guys! So every time I find a picture book about foxes, or there's a fox in any kind of book I have to have it, and I'm so excited! But then often sad.
Not so much in the picture books, but in the middle grade books where foxes DIE all the time and it's horrible and unnecessary and full of moralizing and all Black Beautyesque.
Seriously people, WTH Let. The. Foxes. Be.

I had decided after Pax that I would stick to picture book foxes, but then I found out that my friend, an amazing person and wonderful writer, was writing a book of connected stories about foxes.
And I love Christian, and I trust him, His other two books have been YA, so I got a sense that this was a real pet project or labor of love for him, so I was even more intrigued.
It's called SCARY Stories for Young Foxes, and I don't like horror, but STILL I trusted him, and I was not afraid to beg for an Advanced Readers Copy.


And I was right to trust Christian,

First of all, this book is GORGEOUS, Even though it's an ARC and some art might not be final, etc, the style of the art, both on the cover and the interior is perfect, There are black pages for the framing story, which adds such great atmosphere, And he's just absolutely nailed the fox mannerisms, They way they talk and move and describe things feels so real, It's a sensoryrich book, which really gives you the feeling that this is a story told BY foxes, FOR foxes, and we humans are eavesdroppers, And, yes, foxes die. Kit foxes. Adult foxes. Other animals as well. But none of the deaths feel gratuitous, This book clearly isn't written to have a Big Moral or just to be a Three Hanky Weeper, It's a story of adventure, and friendship, and love, and suspense,

And yes, it's a story about foxes, Adorable, wonderful foxes. Precious soft foxes who need to be cuddled, wipes eyes on foxpatterned silk scarf, applies gloss from cute little Japanese foxshaped lip gloss Okay, you got me!

As a young sassy library fox there's no universe or parallel world in which I could have resisted this kind of temptation.


Fox stories! Yes, please, thank you! XD

P, S: Is it just me or are there so many great new releases! My TBR is growing again, All scary stories have two sides, . . Like the bright and dark of

the moon,

Survival horror has a quick access to the fears inside us all, often asking what level of trauma would you be willing to endure to keep living.
For humans this is often a creepy yet thrilling game of what if, but for the animal world much of their life is a constant beonthelookout to survive, Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker is a middle grade novel that creates survival horror through the eyes ofampdashyou guessed ityoung foxes that will keep you up late clutching the book with white knuckles.
It is certainly more effective than most horror I read as a child and has become a favorite for both myself and my daughter who wasat the time we read it.
The book starts as connected stories that slowly thread into a shared narrative with each episodic chapter framed as a different style of horror narrative but couched in the world of foxes and what would be terrifying to them.
Combined with incredible graphite art that recalls the thrills of sitelinkScary Stories to Tell in the Dark, this is a legitimately creepy story that also has a great deal of heart while showing the power of friendship in the face of death and also the importance of storytelling.


What really works is the genuine creepiness of the tales and the way each section plays on classic horror tropes, For example, a rabies outbreak is written like a zombie apocalypse, being stuck in the home of a taxidermist being a captivity horror something like Stephen Kings sitelinkMisery, a monster horror scene and, perhaps the most menacing, a narrative about being in the clutches of a manipulative sociopath grooming young girls.
If you are giving this to a younger reader, be advised that this doesnt shy away from death, disfigurement or cruelty, But none of it feels over the top or unnecessary it is horror and is meant to be actually scary and is the animal kingdom afterall but it is disturbing.
But mostly a LOT of fun, If you like this kind of thing, I was delighted by how well done it is here,

But it's a dangerous thing to start caring for someone else,

There is a lot of heart to this book and it will make you cry too, which I didnt expect after how frightening it was, The primary message is that sticking together and taking care of each other is the way through all the darkness and dangers of life, The book is also charmingly framed as an elder fox telling scary stories to a litter of young foxes, returning to the present after each chapter to discover another of the foxes has become frightened and run home.
Its cute and recalls childhood storytelling and nursery rhymes that count down, like TheLittle Monkeys or Six Little Ducks, But it also shows the importance of storytelling as a way to pass down knowledge or pass on warnings about the dangers of life, The oral tradition kept knowledge going for generations and that is really effective in this book,

If you're brave enough to listen and wise enough to stay to the end, the stories can shine a light on the good in the world.
They can guide your muzzles, They can help you survive,

This is such a creepy delight and I would recommend it to both children and adults, A bit long at times but nevertheless a real page turner, It is also a perfect read for the Halloween season, Also, its all about my favorite animal, so maybe I'm a bit biased but seriously, this book is a terrifying treat,

./ These foxes are enchanting and in constant peril, Your heart will break over and over again and you will never feel good about reading Peter Rabbit again,

I hear it all the time from grownups, "I just don't like talking animal books, " We get it, you're grown, and you don't want to be seen crying over dead spiders, or artistic apes, or mouse knights, So, don't pay attention to this review, How many ways can I hate this book
, Beatrix Potter as an evil taxidermist who kills animals when she's finished drawing them WTF, Dude! Potter did more singlehandedly for animal and land conservation than anyone of her era.
I know, when she was a student she once boiled the meat off a dead rabbit she did not kill it so she could study its anatomy, but what's the point of turning her into Hansel and Gretel's Witch I hope The Beatrix Potter Society sends you a stiff letter of reproof and turns down your membership application.

. If Beatrix Potter is the locator of the story's time frame, how is it that the little foxes all speak in fluent Disney Princess slang Jarring to my ears, and nowhere near as witty as the work of Daniel Handler or Diana WynneJones.

. When I was a kid, we loved spooky stories, the grosser the better, but all the maiming and horrible deaths and diseases here felt sadistic to me, The tooneatly tied happyeverafter didn't mesh with all the menace and horror it read as a perfunctory nod to the sensibilities of parents and librarians,
. If anyone makes this into a movie, I'm boycotting it,
This is a wonderful story about the survival of two young foxes, about family, friendship, tragedy, and strength, The title could be misleading because it made me expect horror, But instead, there's thriller and suspense,

Things don't have to be shapeless or unfamiliar to be evil, The scariest parts of this story could very well happen in reallife, It is refreshing to encounter stories that do not portray caregivers as the stereotypical perfect, selfless saints that parents are too often portraying in children's materials,

This is a fantastic story for children and can be enjoyed by adults alike, It has a riveting plot and profound characters that can truly teach you about human nature, .