PreS-Gr 2-In this series entry, Fox wakes up hungry in her dark, cozy den, but it's too light to go outside safely. Eventually, daylight turns to dusk, and the people of the city have all gone. She leaves her den in search of food. By the time she sets off down a path, the sun is completely gone. The audience goes along on the adventure with Fox to find her food. Shadows and light come into play. She finds a mouse! Happily, for the cute mouse and even the audience perhaps, the rodent is too fast. Fox is shown sniffing through a discarded pizza box. She bumps into her reflection in a mirror in a store window. Eventually, after a few potentially dangerous missteps, she finds her dinner in a backyard cookout. She is lead home safely by the light of the moon. After this story exposing light and dark ends, readers are asked to find examples of different light sources in the book. There are plenty. Full-page, mixed media illustrations are gorgeous, enhancing the story -completely. VERDICT A worthy informational consideration for preschool units on light sources, nighttime, and urban foxes.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Fox leaves her den at nightfall and crosses the city park, looking for food. She chases a mouse down the sidewalk, but can't catch it. The sight of a fox in a shop window distracts her, but when she steps toward it, her head bumps the glass. Soon she sniffs out a barbecue fire and finds some food that was dropped on the ground. Dinner! The moon illuminates the park as the fox carries the food home. From the First Science Storybook series, this picture book offers an interesting tale while integrating elements of a science theme: light. While Fox explores the night, different lights illuminate the scenes. An introductory note suggests that adults use the story to talk about concepts such as daylight (from the sun), moonlight (sunlight bouncing off the moon), streetlights (electricity), fire, shadows, and mirrors. And after the story, optional questions prompt children to consider those ideas. The text is very accessible, while the attractive mixed-media artwork uses color and light effectively to illustrate the narrative and support the science theme as well.--Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2018 Booklist

Jenkins and Smythe follow a fox's search for food and introduce the concepts of light and dark to the very young.As day turns to night, a fox comes out of her den. She is hungry. She steps cautiously down the path, looking for food. Jenkins acknowledges the fox's keen eyesight ("She has sharp eyes") but in setting up the science-concept theme, mentions something that rings a bit untrue: "but she still finds it hard to see when it is dark." Dim light is indeed needed for his exploration of the theme, but the simplicity of the sentence downplays a fox's nocturnal prowess. Regardless, moonlight, streetlights, car headlights, firelight, and flashlight beams all penetrate the night while the fox is on the hunt. Smythe's saturated mixed-media illustrations punctuate the dusky blackness with pockets of bright spots to reinforce the lesson. Frontmatter reminds adult readers of themes to discuss: "Moonlight is light from the sun that has bounced off the moon." Backmatter poses discussion questions: "Can you find examples of different light sources in the book?" A simple index, a trademark of the series, closes the book.On the surface, a simple story of a fox; with help from an older reader, an intriguing visual representation of a beginning science theme. (Informational picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Linking a study of light and dark to a narrative of an urban fox hunting at night, Jenkins employs spare prose to chronicle the creature's search for food. In the process, the fox encounters many light sources (the moon, street light, car lights), and back matter encourages youngsters to note these. The mixed-media illustrations create a shadowy, solitary nocturnal journey. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.