FOX

Fox takes me back to my childhood when my first "grown up" experiences like going to school on my own or using the stove for the first time with my egg omelets, meant a series of steps i had to learn from my grandmother to ensure my readiness. The story for me recapituates these learning experiences in a child's life to develop him for his place in the world. For example, Fox is eager to step out into the big blue gorgeous world because it looks beckoning, ripe and harmless. While he learns patience because his parents tell him to he is not ready yet, he learns the neccessary tools of survival that he must have to survive on his own. He learns how and when to perceive danger, for example his parents teach him how to "leap like shadows" in the nighttime when it may be less dangerous for him because he is a prey. He learns how to sense danger and calm by the soundwaves on the winds and where he must go to hide and protect himself.

Each time Fox learns something new, he asks "am I ready yet?" This is so funny because I remember the times when I myself learnt something more to prepare me for doing something for the first time, howimpatient I got because I thought i couldn't be anymore prepared, it was now or never; and this is exactly how Fox behaves. We experience this urgency and impatience to jump into the world all through our journey to adulthood and I could not help feeling that the author wants to remind us of experiences like these in out childhood and the importance of patience and learning process of the neccessary steps to standing on our own before we jump into the unknown.

The Artwork

The artwork is amazing and I couldn't help noticing how very Expressionistic the art is. The brushstrikes are vivid and there is no uniformity or perfection intended because it is the world through Fox's eyes. The hues of the warm colors like the browns and oranges and the bold and primary greens, reds and blues capture the vitality of the natural environment and nature Herself . Together with the glory of how Fox sees the world and the author's perception of how children see the world, the illustrator fuses these two ideas with his brush.