one fox: a counting book thriller

I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again – I have a lot of little humans in my life, so I’m almost always looking for new picture books to gift… for birthdays, holidays, or even just a casual visit! It’s one of my life goals to be known as the aunt or cousin who always gives books. Some years I find an across-the-board winner and it gets gifted to everyone (see: anything by Oge Mora!), and some years each kiddo gets their own pick. This year, I have a couple of excellent candidates for picture books, and Kate Read’s One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller is one of them!

One hungry fox with two sly eyes is on the prowl…three plump hens had better watch out! Rich and colorful illustrations plunge the reader into a dramatic and exciting story set in a moonlit farmyard. With something different to count on each page, learning to count from one to ten has never been so thrilling!

This surprisingly simple counting book with a gripping tale, great for early education and read-alouds, has a hugely satisfying ending that’s sure to delight generations.

In this entertaining picture book, a hungry fox is determined to make dinner out of at least one of the three hens in the hen house. Everything is going as you’d expect… with tension amplified over the course of each page spread… until there’s an unexpected twist at the end! One Fox is an inventive, beautifully illustrated take on the classic counting book genre, and is sure to be a favorite with both children and the adults doing read alouds.

 

The text in One Fox is charmingly minimalist: the story is told through the counting, with each number accompanied by only a short phrase. There are no full sentences until the very last page of the book, yet author-illustrator Read imbues each page spread with a sense of growing menace and danger (kid-appropriate, of course). The stripped down text means more time for pondering the art, and an appeal to a wider age range. In addition, Read uses adjectives that may be new to young readers: famished, sly, and beady, for example. Several of the word combinations are alliterative or rhyme, making the brief text even more of a delight to read.

 

Of course, the most important part of any picture book are the PICTURES – and Read’s art is fantastic. Her painted, textured, cut-paper art is reminiscent of both recent favorite Oge Mora (Thank You, Omu! and Saturday) and celebrated, classic children’s book author Ezra Jack Keats (The Snowy Day). Of course, Read’s art is all her own: her choice to center the main character(s) – or the part of them described – in each panel and keep the background understated and restrained helps to build the sense of unease and thrill necessary to this story. Her vivid color choices also gratify, and the way the gradations in hue are layered, one on top of another, impart the sensation of fur and feathers.

 

I could go on, but it’s a short book in the end, and I don’t want to spoil it. One Fox is a lot of fun (which books should be!), and it feels clever, hilarious, and the tiniest bit subversive. An enjoyable read for all ages!

 

Recommended for: little ones ages 1-5, for librarians/teachers/parents looking for smart and short read alouds, and for anyone who enjoys their reading with unexpected twists.

Fine print: I received an unbound copy of this book for review from the publisher. I did not receive any compensation for this post.

fantastic mr. fox and charred applesauce with yogurt (+ giveaway!)

Roald Dahl’s 100^th birthday celebration blog tour stops here today at Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia for a Fantastic Mr. Fox-themed food celebration. Newly-redesigned paperback editions of Fantastic Mr. Fox and other Roald Dahl favorites are available from Puffin (Penguin Young Readers). Stay tuned until the end of the post for a giveaway of all 15 re-released editions and a special tote bag!

One of the first times I have a really vivid memory of someone other than my mother reading aloud to me is when my first grade teacher read Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach to my class.  That book is quite an adventure, but it also features a lot of eating.  My first thought (to this day!) when I remember the story is that I don’t know if I’d ever get sick of eating peaches. I might have been a perennially hungry child, can you tell?

Fantastic Mr. Fox didn’t reach quite as mainstream a status as that until Wes Anderson turned it into a stop-motion film (which I loved).  When I was considering what to do to celebrate Roald Dahl’s birthday week, I couldn’t pass the book itself up. It is the PERFECT. FALL. EATING. BOOK. I mean the whole thing revolves around Mr. Fox stealing chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys, cider, and so on to feed his family. There’s even a huge community feast at the end! And if you open any recent cookbook about seasonal eating, apples, ducks and chicken will figure prominently in the autumn sections. It was meant to be.

While Fantastic Mr. Fox doesn’t specifically mention applesauce, one of the farmers (Bean, the cleverest one) is an apple farmer, and he subsists solely on gallons of strong apple cider. My applesauce recipe has non-alcoholic cider in it, so we’re going to call it good and say I stayed on theme, okay? Okay. The upside of all of this is that the recipe is ridiculously easy to make, so you too can have a delicious fall- and Dahl-inspired meal (if you want).

Charred Applesauce with Yogurt (adapted from a recipe in XX Dinners)

INGREDIENTS

4 apples, any kind, but maybe stick to sweeter varieties – I used Pink Lady

1/4 cup sparkling apple cider

1 cinnamon stick

pinch of salt

pumpkin seeds, toasted  (optional)

yogurt, your favorite kind – I like plain, low-fat

DIRECTIONS

Applesauce

Set the oven to broil and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. 

Wash the apples (and make sure to remove any produce stickers!) and place them on the sheet on a top rack right under the broiler.  Watch and turn the apples every 2-3 minutes, but let charred bits bubble up on the skin.

After you’ve turned the apples 4-5 times and have a few charred spots, lower oven temperature to 400 degrees F and bake for another 10 minutes. Before removing from oven, check with a skewer to see if apples are soft. Skewer should slide through apple easily. If it doesn’t, bake another 5 minutes and test again. Once the apples are done, remove from oven until cool enough to handle.

Use your fingers to separate the skins from the flesh and set aside (the skin separated from the flesh while I was baking the apples, so this step was really easy), and remove the core, stem, and seeds with a spoon or your fingers again. Place the apple flesh in a medium-sized bowl, mash to your liking (if at all), and add cider. Stir just to combine.

Chop up some of the charred skin and add to the bowl. Grate in cinnamon to taste – for me that’s about 2/3 of the cinnamon stick, and also add the pinch of salt. Mix, and you’re done!

If you won’t eat it all in one go (it’s also good on pork, chicken & duck!), refrigerate the remainder in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

To make the yogurt dish, simply layer the yogurt and applesauce in a bowl to your liking, and sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds.  I made toasted the pumpkin seeds by layering half a handful on a baking sheet with one spritz of baking spray and placing under the broiler for one minute (okay 2, I like them very crispy!) after I finished baking the apples. Add honey or other toppings to taste!

Recommended for: a taste of fall in your morning routine, and a good way to use up extra apples from that apple picking trip you have coming up.

Someone's been stealing from the three meanest farmers around, and they know the identity of the thief—it's Fantastic Mr. Fox! Working alone they could never catch him; but now fat Boggis, squat Bunce, and skinny Bean have joined forces, and they have Mr. Fox and his family surrounded. What they don't know is that they're not dealing with just any fox—Mr. Fox would rather die than surrender. Only the most fantastic plan can save him now.

Enter to Win the Roald Dahl 100 Celebratory Prize Pack! (Ends Sep. 19)

Interested in other food-related posts? Check out Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking!

Fine print: I received a copy of Fantastic Mr. Fox from the publisher for review consideration. I did not receive any compensation for this post. Giveaway and giveaway prize under the direction of the publisher.

i just want to cuddle up

It’s fall again, and I LOVE it. We’ve had rain and cool weather, and it makes me want to find a fleece-lined nest, cuddle up with hot apple cider and watch the leaves turn different colors. What’s your favorite autumn activity?

[image found at dogbatcat etsy shop]