Stephanie Graegin

These tiny tales of Grandma and Bean are wonderfully sweet; little hedgehog vignettes of childhood experiences, like outgrowing a blanket (it becomes a bandana), finding a big cardboard box to play in, jumping off a swing, and losing a bad mood in a meadow.

See also: Little Witch Hazel by Phoebe Wahl, Our Friend Hedgehog by Lauren Castillo, Hugs from Pearl by Paul Schmid

This book is so sweet, sincere and lovely in every sense of the word. It's cottage-core whimsy and quiet endearing tales will ensure it is loved by both adults and children alike. It begs to be read in a whisper, snuggled up under blankets with a happy, slightly sleepy little one. The illustrations have that delightful talent of telling a part of the story you would never know if you weren't looking- just perfect for sparking conversations with curious little humans. It honestly feels like show more an heirloom book- something worth sharing, keeping and passing on. It reminds me of the tales of Winnie the Pooh- quiet, insightful, timeless and endearing. I'm delighted to see this is the first in a series of these short story collections. I can't wait to hear about more of Bean's adorable adventures soon. show less

When the teacher tells her class that they will have show-and-tell the next day, the young heroine of this wordless picture-book rushes home and prepares her beloved stuffed fox for a day out. What the little girl doesn't expect is that this treasured toy will be stolen from her bag by a real fox, while she plays on the swings after school. Setting off in pursuit of the vulpine interloper, the girl is in turn followed by her best friend. Eventually the two children find their way to the show more colorful land of animals, where they track down the thieving fox. But will the girl keep the stuffed animal, in the face of a real animal's distress...?

Little Fox In the Forest marks illustrator Stephanie Graegin's authorial debut - if a wordless picture-book can be said to be 'authored' - and has been compared to Aaron Becker's wordless picture-book adventure trilogy (Journey, Quest, and Return). For my part, I was strongly reminded of a recent Japanese picture-book that I picked up, Kimiko Aman's Fox Wish, which also addressed the theme of a little girl who surrenders her plaything to the eager young fox who has appropriated it. It's unfortunate that I encountered Graegin's book so soon after Aman's, as I think I would have appreciated it more if I didn't have the outstanding Fox Wish in mind, as I turned the pages. That said, there was much here to enjoy, from the beautiful and skillfully-done artwork - I liked that the human world was depicted in muted shades of blue, while the animal world was shown in vivid, earthy tones - to the sweet and heartwarming conclusion of the tale, in which the girl exchanges toys with the fox. Recommended to anyone looking for wordless picture-books, or who enjoys magical-realist stories about children, toys, and foxes. show less

A young hedgehog named Bean helps her grandmother in their garden, plays imaginatively with a large cardboard box, listens to bedtime stories, and has additional little adventures throughout her days.

This was a cute book written in more of a vignette style than a throughline story (although there were endearing little call-backs in the illustrations, such as the plant Bean and Grandma bought in an earlier story showing up in the play "house" Bean makes out of the cardboard box, which itself show more is received from Mr. Green who owns the plant shop).

The book is broken up into little stories that serve as short chapters of a two to eight pages each, in some cases with a full-page illustration tucked in there. This is very manageable for young readers as it's not terribly long overall, but it also provides logical places for a pause. The illustrations are gentle watercolors that are sweet and whimsical. They complement the text and enhance it with additional details.

The wet-blanket responsible adult in me didn't love the chapter in which Bean jumps off a playground swing after swinging as high as she can nor one in which Grandma rubberstamps Bean essentially running away due to a bad mood, in both cases because of the safety risks these actions would incur in real life.

But otherwise I enjoyed the book overall and look forward to seeing whatever future adventures Bean and her grandmother have in follow-up books. show less