What does a fox do with a box? You would not think a lot, but our fox hero has found a way to go on one amazingly grand adventure!
Author/illustrator Yvonne Ivinson created Fox and the Box to help kids spot words and start to sight read. And it is not hard to spot those words as there are only 45 words in the story itself. What this allows is for the early reader to start at an easy level and start to read solo (with a bit of help in some areas). However, what the catch really is, is the illustrations.
The story (what there is) is cute. A fox finds a box, has a few false starts but soon is sailing the mighty ocean. Throughout the trip different adventures happen. You are able to read about it, but mostly you can see the fox bailing with a pail and battling the storm. At the end, a surprise comes along to help our new friend fox. These illustrators you can see the brush strokes, and the adult can see how the characters come to life. Even with its slightly cartoonish style, the realism (as far as a fox wearing pants can be real) comes out. The fox looks soft and fluffy and you almost expect to feel the fluffy when touching a page.
The colors are beyond deep, lush and colorful. The whole package is such a pleasure. It is not an easy read aloud but could work for the very young listener. There is good action seen, therefore, allowing the child to use their imagination about what could be going on with the foxes thoughts, what is real and what the fox is imaging, and what other adventures they could have with their own box.
