A Pig, a Fox, and a Fox

by Jonathan Fenske, Jonathan Fenske (Illustrator)

Overview

The stars of Jonathan Fenske's 2016 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor book, A Pig, a Fox, and a Box, and A Pig, a Fox, and Stinky Socks return in another humorous three-part story designed to engage early readers. This story contains charming characters combined with simple text, lively illustrations, and laugh-out-loud humor to help boost kids' confidence and create lifelong readers!

As in the precursors to this tale, A Pig, a Fox, and a Box and A Pig, a Fox, and Stinky Socks, Jonathan Fenske tells a humorous three-part story of two friends, Pig and Fox. In this book, Fox has a doll that looks like him, and he uses it to prank Pig into thinking it's the real Fox. As always, the mischief winds up backfiring, and Fox becomes his own victim.

With comic art and simple language, this title is sure to have kids rolling with laughter.

Exciting, easy-to-read books are the stepping stone a young reader needs to bridge the gap between being a beginner and being fluent.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524792121
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	09/29/2020
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	492,608
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	230L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 7 Years

About the Author

Jonathan Fenske (he/him) is the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor-winning author-illustrator of Love Is in the Air; Guppy Up!; Woodward and McTwee; A Pig, a Fox, and a Box; A Pig, a Fox, and Stinky Socks; We Need More Nuts!; and Please, No More Nuts! He lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

2020-06-16
Can an old fox learn new tricks? He’ll sure try!

A fox doll joins Pig and Fox for the duo’s third outing, spelling double trouble for poor Pig. As with the two previous titles, A Pig, a Fox, and a Box (2015) and A Pig, a Fox, and Stinky Socks (2019), Fox plays tricks on his pal Pig that don’t quite go as planned. First, Fox places his new doll atop a high wall of blocks and calls out to Pig. Pig mistakes the fox doll for the real deal and rushes to rescue his friend from that precarious position, accidentally knocking down the wall and—“Oh no!”—burying Fox in the rubble. For the next trick, Fox knocks on Pig’s door and uses the doll as a decoy in an attempted surprise. The plan backfires when—“CRACK!”—the door swings to hit Fox hiding beside it: “Ouch.” Will Fox survive for a third trick or call it quits? Using fewer than 130 words, Fenske recycles his slapstick formula alongside repeated phrases to effectively entertain emerging readers. The dialogue-driven story helpfully uses color-coded speech bubbles to identify speakers. Colored backgrounds (some full, some partial) delineate most comics panels but lack outlines and are sometimes unclear. Though most will love the series’ familiar characters and cartoon violence, Pig’s oafish antics—and the repeated textual emphasis on his size—play into fat stereotypes. (This book was reviewed digitally with 7.6-by-10.2-inch double-page spreads viewed at 89% of actual size.)

Three might just be a crowd for this series. (Early reader. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews