Fox Makes Friends

by Adam Relf

Poor little Fox! He's all alone in his room, with no friends at all. So when Mama suggests that he make some, Fox sets out to do that...literally. "What can I make a friend out of?" he wonders. Soon, he's gathered all the materials he things he needs--sticks, stones, fruit, and more--and built his first friend. "Are you my friend?" Fox asks. "Can you come and play?" But it doesn't reply and it doesn't move. What could be wrong? Only when a variety of curious animals come round to help that Fox discovers what pals are all about.

Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Animals, Childrens, Humor, Fiction, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 2005

Reviews

[Ellie Abrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very endearing story of a fox who wishes to make some friends and so sets about building them. When the friends do not respond to him, the help of others is enlisted to make these friends. Little does the fox know, he is making real friends while attempting this build.

[Anna Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This. Is. The. Cutest. Book. Ever.

[Mya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the concept. This was a cute quick read and I would certainly read it again. I just wished it was longer.

[Kate Chazin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fox is on a mission to make friends! However, he misinterprets his mom's suggestion to "make friends" and heads out literally build a friend out found objects in his environment (e.g., sticks and stones). As he goes around collecting items for his homemade friend, other animals come to help him build. When his homemade "friend" is complete, he discovers that it's not the most interesting of friends--it can't play with him or talk to him. However, all the animals who helped him along the way are here to play! It turns out Fox made some friends after all! This book is great for learners of different abilities--more advanced learners can discuss abstract friendship skills, while earlier learners can identify the more concrete animals, colors, the objects Fox uses to build his friend, etc. This book would be the perfect launchpad for discussing friends--what is a friend, how do we make friends, what do we do with friends, and how can we be a good friend to others? This book would be a great starting point for a group project where children work together to build something. As the children build together, a teacher can prompt and model friendship skills (e.g., turn-taking, helping a friend, providing a compliments) and talk about the ways students are being good friends to one another.

[Cosette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute

[Brenna Quirk]

A young fox sets out to catch friends, but talking things to literally he tries to being a net and catch friends. After being told he has to go make friends, he begins to build friends out of objects he finds. Eventually a young rabbit and squirrel join him and after never being satisfied with their creations, they are reminded that along the way the three had become friends with out even trying!
I enjoyed the simple yet heart warming message of this book. The sketch like drawings and warm toned images paired well with the themes of friendship and I enjoyed how the breadth of the image reached all edges of the page making the art work stand out even more. The motherly figure acting as a book end to the story was a good structural decision and the story had a good level of ease while reading.
I would recommend this book to all kids from ages 4-8, and to be honest it was a cute story to read as a grown up. Specifically I think this book would do very well with children who may struggle making friends or feeling lonely or even maybe kids who have many surface level friends but long for a deeper relationship with a select few.
There are not many diverse characters in this book, seeing as there are only four total. But I think the inclusion of four different types of animals being friends rather than three foxes sends a wonderful message of being open and loving to all others no matter how they are different. It also speaks to the fact that a common goal can bring unlikely people together!

[Jayanthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most important skills for early years is social skills. Here, the fox is also on a mission to make friends. While he does not know what it means, he goes out to make friends with things available in his surroundings. In the process of building/making friends, he truly makes friends. It's a lovely book about how kids take the literal meaning of what parents say. Also, it is a great book to learn to make friends.

[Valleri · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adorable little fox tries to "make friends" while actually becoming friends with other woodland creatures in the process. This is a very endearing tale, easy for young children to understand.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

so cute!

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Told me a lot about making friends... when I was younger, to older children this book will teach you the obvious. Good, as a kid's book, but not great to read as an older person

[Mely · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet book with adorable illustrations. Good for toddlers. Simple and short.

[Carolyn West · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book for my son's school library 10 years old and only read it properly this year. It is a beautiful story about making friends by just playing.

[karen vega puga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book show how creative you can be to make friends. It show about making new friends. Also how to build social skills.

[Liz Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet story, but I feel like I've read it lots of other times. You'll see...

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a young fox sets out to "make" friends, he unintentionally finds them. Great for a read aloud. Recommended for both school and public libraries.

[Sana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super nice, but short book that can be a great bedtime story

[Pamela Rabon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good for young children to see beyond.

[Fatima Seraj Alam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute book about a fox making or trying to make friends.

[Alexsandra Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a lonely fox who masters the art of making friends. This book will inform children on how to understand the meaning of the word friendship and how the fox learns to make friends. It is a great book because not only is it showing children about friendship but how to create a friendship. The illustrations of this book are adorable especially because the fox is a little fox and looks like a small pet. Fox starts to make friends by creating them from sticks and items he finds in nature. Because he was a determined fox to make friends literally he ends up making actual friends. This story take the form of a fable where the animal come to life and create a moral to the story. Of course, the moral being friendship. I recommend this book because it show children especially at the beginning of the year how to make friends.

[Dani B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story of a small fox who does not have friends and sets out to make friends out of the things he finds outside. He asks a passing rabbit and squirrel to help him make his friends bigger and talk. The animals feel like they failed to make friends until Fox’s mom is excited to meet all of his new friends. Together they realize that while trying to make friends they became friends themselves. This book shows the importance of making friends and how they can be made when you least expect it. This book is an important book for young children to learn social-emotional development because it teaches them how to make friends by working together to create something. This would be a great book to review early in the year to set them up to make new friends in the classroom. It is a large book with cute illustrations that can make it easier to attend to for young children.

[Carly Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

For Carly's Award

Level: Early

Topic: Making Friends, Interacting with others

Genre: Picture Book

Curricular Use: Read Aloud or independent reading

Social: Making Friends, Interacting with others

Literary Elements: Dialogue, dynamic characters, problem solving, questions

Strong connection between the pictures and the text (the expressions on the characters faces really add to the feeling of loneliness that the fox feels when he thinks that he has failed to make friends)

[Little Miss and the Legomeister · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not very fond of this story. It's a bit silly, a bit sweet, and perhaps a little too cute.

Little Miss loves it. She says because it's "so funny." I think it's because the expressions on Fox's face and his situation in the story make him easy to identify with. Also because Fox is trying to do something impossibly silly, building friends out of plants. But I think one of the things the kids* love about this book is how big it is. The pictures are huge, and brightly colored; relatively simple but nicely expressive.

Legomeister loved this one too, when he was younger.

[Cara Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a little known fact that I love foxes and I am very drawn to books about foxes. This little foxes was so inviting that I could not help but falling in love with the story before I had even read it. This little fox is looking to make friends. He is trying to make a friend out of things around his house, but does not realize that the animals helping him are his friends. This is a great way to help children see how easy it is to make new friends at the beginning of the school year. The story was creative and had me smiling all though out it. This is a story I must have for my class room.

[Nanci Booher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet story about Fox who sets out to "make" friends. His first try involves and apple and some sticks. When that friend doesn't play, he asks Rabbit, who is passing by, to help him make a bigger friend. When that friend doesn't play, they then enlist the help of Squirrel. That friend then fails as well. Fox's mama comes by to ask who his new friends are and suddenly Fox realizes that his friends are Rabbit and Squirrel and they continue to play the day away. Great illustrations, big sized book would be great for a read aloud or storytime.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a fox who makes friends out of sticks. Throughout the process of making friends using sticks, other animals in nature help the fox make his friend out of sticks. Due to this process, the fox ends up with real friends. This is a good book to nurture friendship skills and show children that they can make friends by working together. Children can work together to try and make a pretend friend like fox did in the story. It is a cute story for little children and can tie in aspects of nature such as sticks, rocks, leaves, and the changing of nature.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fox has decided he wants a friend. So he sets out to make one. But his creations don't seem to respond to his requests to play. With the help of a rabbit and then a squirrel he makes progressively larger friend creations, but none seem good enough. Little does fox realize he has made other friends along the way.

A cute story that rings slightly of fable-type qualities. Kids will likely laugh at the ridiculousness of Fox and the other animals. Can lead to a nice discussion about how to make new friends.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting this to be a sappy Disney-knock-off, but I was pleasantly surprised. This is a very sweet story about a small fox who learns what it means to "make" friends (hint: it's not a building project). Perfect for the preschool age group, and one I wouldn't mind reading again and again.

But maybe I'm just biased because I have children who love to build things....

**Lit.Act.--make "friends" from craft or nature materials...with friends, of course!

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aww, this is a cute story about a fox who learns how to "make" friends ... the right way. ;)

Ages 3+

**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.

[Caitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my favorite picture books. I really like it. The pictures in Fox Makes Friends confirm the meaning that the author is expressing. Fox tries to build a friend, and in the end Fox has become friends with Squirrel and Rabbit. They become best friends and play together everyday. I would use this book as a read-aloud in my classroom.

[Nancy Julmice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute story which shows that sometimes children can mistake the literal meaning of making friends for the actual meaning of going out and meeting new people to have as friends. This story will show children that friends are everywhere and they can have fun if they just look for a companion.