Fox

Read on May 11, 2013

This is one of those picture books that might have a bigger impact on adults or traumatized a child. Definitely will lead to questions. Why aren't we ever happy with what we have? What about loyalty and friendship? And the ending?! Well, you get to figure that out yourself -- does magpie make it back to dog?

One thing is for sure -- always trust your gut.

This picture book is beautiful. It teaches the beauty of not giving up. A bird loses hope when he is no longer able to fly, but after meeting a dog who believed in her, she eventually found a reason to continue living, which in the end it is revealed that her motivation to live was because of her beautiful friendship with the dog. This can teach us that there are good reasons to not give up. The sparse text and striking illustrations create a powerful emotional atmosphere that lingers long after reading. It’s a profound story with deep themes, ideal for older children and thoughtful discussions.

This book should come with a warning that it is a story of a devious fox who wishes harm, and an innocent dog with only one eye who comes upon a raven who is missing one wing.

The lovely, kind dog helps the despondent raven who recently lost a wing thus crippling her for life. The text is hand written as though it is a child writing the story. The feel is immediate and captures the reader's attention suddenly with the blocked, larger writing when the writer wants to make a strong point.

The lovely, friendly, kind dog with one eye tells the raven not to despair, for he only has one eye and though he is blind he states, "life is still good." The writing continues and sets the sad despondency of the raven as it is noted "Magpie drags her show more body into the shadow of the rocks, until she feels herself melting into blackness." This deep description sets the tone of just how very sad the raven feels.

Every sentence is needed. The descriptive writing is strong, without a wasted word. The dog is able to help the raven out of despondency and carries her on his back, as they develop an incredibly strong bond, until along creeps the nasty, evil fox with "his haunted eyes and rich red coat," as he lurks in the trees "like a tongue of fire!"
WOW -- this is indeed descriptive writing that any teacher would give the student writer an A.

The sly fox is told to go away because she will lever leave Dog. Later, the magpie is suddenly seen on the back of the fox, and away they go.

And, the ending is left for the reader to discern if the magpie and the kindly dog will ever reunite.

My grand daughter was very bright and intuitive when she was young. With a house filled with books, one of us read to her every night. While we read, she was intelligent enough to fill in the ending before it was known. I think this book might have scared her gentle soul as she was hopeful of a happy ending, but fearful there would not be one.

Highly recommended with a caveat to weigh the strength and intuitiveness of the reader and/or listener experiencing the tale. show less

Beware that this book may not be for everyone, and make sure to read it first before you show it to your sensitive child, but this is a book that is so emotionally charged that it left me speechless.

This simple wilderness story about the friendship between a magpie who can't fly and a one-eyed dog is powerful and touching. The full spread pictures, that are at times warm and at times stark, are edgy and bring out the atmosphere of the desert. The rawness of the pictures and the book design fit the crude story perfectly.

The story begins with a tender description of the dog and the bird's first encounter. The well meaning dog and the beaten bird develop a strong bond, so strong they're in fact one. Until fox comes along. You can tell he show more spells trouble "... with his haunted eyes and rich red coat. He flickers through the trees like a tongue of fire, and Magpie trembles." Yet, Dog, who always sees the good in everything, is welcoming. "He belongs nowhere," [Magpie] says. "he loves no one." But Dog says, "He's all right. Let him be." When fox first tries to come between them, Magpie says, "I will never leave Dog. I am his missing eye and he is my wings." Of course he eventually gives in to the deceptive fox's sweet talk. But then, the story takes a turn that I was not expecting, It's a master stroke! The fox doesn't really want the bird in itself, he's much more devious than that. The last three page spreads are filled with heartbreak, and while beautiful, these pages were tough on both me and my child.

Luckily, the story is open ended, which makes it bearable. My four year old opted for an optimistic ending, while the adult will know that the magpie doesn't really stand a chance. My son typically steers away from ugly things and thus, understandably, did not care to repeat the reading of the story. As for me however, the story dwells with me in a way where I can't get it out of my mind.

I rarely come across something so well crafted, as this story is. But then, on top of all this, while I was expecting simply a story about a fox, I couldn't help but picture the Dog as the embodiment of everything that's good in the world, while the Fox was the essence of evil. And then, we're the Magpie, I guess, wavering between being faithful to our engagements and falling for temptations. What a unique book! show less

While I really enjoyed reading this book, I definitely found it to be a little dark for young children. The writing was very engaging and kept me interested, especially with the introduction of the evil fox. The illustrations in this book were absolutely beautiful and enhanced the story. The characters, while animals, were very well developed. I was personally sad when the bird ended up stranded in the desert. The main idea of this story is perseverance and also to love and appreciate what you have, because it could be taken from you. I liked reading this book as an adult, but I am not so sure I would give it to young children.

A power struggle between Fox and half blind Dog ends in tragedy as Magpie is persuaded to leave Dog and fly away on Fox's back. Fox's evil plan to split up this friendship works as he deserts Magpie, leaving him alone in the desert with his broken wing. A modern day morality tale.

This was my first time reading this book, and let me just say it was not what I expected. It definitely kept me on my toes and interested but completely leaves you hanging in the end. It was very interesting to read a picture book from another country. What stood out to me were the illustrations and the way the words were presented on each page. Some were written horizontally and others vertically which I had never seen before. The book did not give me any sort of closure because we have no idea how it ended. It definitely leaves the reader curious about what happened and I think this is a great book to introduce to students because it can lead to an open socratic discussion about ending possibilities.