I loved this book so much. Couldn’t put it down. I’ve been reading so many really compelling children’s books. In some ways they are more full of compassion and heart and soul than many adult books these days.
This is the story of a boy and his little fox named Pax. The boy finds Pax as a small cub and raises him to fox-hood. The setting is rather timeless and placeless. The boy and his father live in the country somewhere near a forest and there’s a war about to begin. But it’s not the Civil War era; it’s a modern war because the father, an engineer, is called upon to create land mines. When the father must leave, he takes the boy to live with an elderly relative, who can’t live with animals. This means the boy must drop Pax off in the forest.
As Pax tries to learn how to survive in the wild, the boy worries that Pax will get killed. The story alternates back and forth between the two, as they search for each other. I won’t say how it ends but it’s full of truth and beauty and love. Both characters stole my heart and I will never forget Pax.
I recently visited Joshua Tree National Park. In their gift shop I found a photo of a fox. It reminded me of little Pax, so I bought it and hung it on my wall. 🙂
