by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 28, 2010

"Red Fox Running" is a very special book. Eve Bunting follows a fox through its day in the woods - but all of the text is written in rhyme. It's a sensitive and sympathetic poem about all the creatures in the forest. And the rhymes add so much, capturing the magic of being inside an animal's mind.

"Winter should be over, but it didn't go away. Hunger runs beside you on this cold and frozen day..."

The red fox sees a woodpecker high up in a tree. There's whooper swans huddling on the unfrozen corner of the lake. An eagle flies silently overhead. And the fox hears the rustling of cranes' wings as they lift off into the sky.

"The sad lonely echo of a last loon's cry..."

The animals in the simple text are depicted in some wonderful paintings by Wendell Minor. He uses soft grey natural colors, and they look like Americana scenes from a Winslow Homer painting. They're realistic, with intriguing colors, but they're also very simple. He contributes a beautiful illustration of nearly every animal mentioned in the book. And sometimes there's even a two-page illustration - with no text at all.

"Red fox, starving fox, desperate to find
A rabbit or a rodent, food of any kind."

Minor draws a picture of a wary rabbit, while the text returns to its animal magic. Eve Bunting describes exactly what the red fox sees - the world turning grayer as the sun goes down, with edges blurring and darkness crawling. It's a trick Bunting used in her pervious children's books - providing lots of details to make the setting seem more believable and real. But in this book, it's as though she's taking the reader directly into the thoughts of the fox.

And then Minor contributes a drawing of the fox in silhouette, moving past an enormous tree that casts long shadows across the snow.

The fox realizes a wildcat is stalking him. But eventually, there's a happy ending, and the fox walks home with food in its mouth. He recognizes a familiar rock, and the familiar scents of home. It's a powerful story, but it's surprisingly personal. And the book's last page suggests it could also work as a bedtime story.

"Red fox, red fox, crawl into your den.
Food for you, your mate and cubs, Eat your fill and then

All curled together in a warm, furry heap,
Sleep safely, red fox, Sleep, sleep sleep."

Learn more about this author, Moe Zilla.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.