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American Woodland Tales
Vulpes the Red Fox
Follows the life of a red fox from his birth in a Maryland den through his growth to maturity to his eventual encounter with a determined hunter
226 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 1948
16 people are currently reading
523 people want to read
About the author
Jean Craighead George
199 books1,551 followersJean Craighead George wrote over eighty popular books for young adults, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves and the Newbery Honor book My Side of the Mountain. Most of her books deal with topics related to the environment and the natural world. While she mostly wrote children's fiction, she also wrote at least two guides to cooking with wild foods, and an autobiography, Journey Inward.
The mother of three children, (Twig C. George, Craig, and T. Luke George) Jean George was a grandmother who joyfully read to her grandchildren since the time they were born. Over the years Jean George kept one hundred and seventy-three pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn when the sun changes their behaviour and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories."
The mother of three children, (Twig C. George, Craig, and T. Luke George) Jean George was a grandmother who joyfully read to her grandchildren since the time they were born. Over the years Jean George kept one hundred and seventy-three pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn when the sun changes their behaviour and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
September 2, 2018
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREG!!!
a review for greg!!!
this is a wonderful little book; part of jean craighead george's american woodland tale series, which are cute little illustrated chapter books about animals in the wild and the things that they do. while we are exposed to the inner thoughts of vulpes, he is, thankfully not a fox that talks, so there is a semblance of realism here. he has motivations for his actions, but they are very practical. vulpes doesn't sit around yearning for things or trying to make friends with the human characters or anything. he finds food, he finds a mate, he learns about the dangers of his environment. all things that foxes actually need to do in order to survive, with none of the disney singing owls or clumsy woodpeckers.
but most importantly, there is a scene in which vulpes hunts for food under the snow. like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2SoGH...
which is the coolest thing foxes do. howdeedoodat???
now, since this is a realistic-type story, i got some bad news for you. look, nature is a tough broad, and not everything in this book is going to be smiles and fuzzy hugs.
so, to cheer up the way i felt at the end of this book
okay, better now. i have a bunch more in this series, but i'm not sure i can face the widdle raccoon just yet.
but soon, once i regroup, emotionally.
come to my blog!
a review for greg!!!
this is a wonderful little book; part of jean craighead george's american woodland tale series, which are cute little illustrated chapter books about animals in the wild and the things that they do. while we are exposed to the inner thoughts of vulpes, he is, thankfully not a fox that talks, so there is a semblance of realism here. he has motivations for his actions, but they are very practical. vulpes doesn't sit around yearning for things or trying to make friends with the human characters or anything. he finds food, he finds a mate, he learns about the dangers of his environment. all things that foxes actually need to do in order to survive, with none of the disney singing owls or clumsy woodpeckers.
but most importantly, there is a scene in which vulpes hunts for food under the snow. like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2SoGH...
which is the coolest thing foxes do. howdeedoodat???
now, since this is a realistic-type story, i got some bad news for you. look, nature is a tough broad, and not everything in this book is going to be smiles and fuzzy hugs.
so, to cheer up the way i felt at the end of this book
okay, better now. i have a bunch more in this series, but i'm not sure i can face the widdle raccoon just yet.
but soon, once i regroup, emotionally.
come to my blog!
September 25, 2024
Phenomenal nature story
By Charles van Buren on October 3, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
I got this book for our 9 year old daughter without having any previous knowledge of or experience with Jean Craighead George. Oh the wasted years. This is a phenomenal book about nature and of course the fox in particular. "Vulpes the red fox is the cleverest and boldest kit in his litter." He becomes a clever, bold and curious adult whose many adventures are chronicled in the book.
George combines fiction with things as they are in the real world rather than a sentimental make believe world. Hunters and predators, both animal and human are a part of that world as is death. In the movie Hombre, Paul Newman's character remarks, "We all die. It's just a question of when." I would add two questions - how and where one goes afterwards, but his point is valid. We all die. Every living thing dies. If that bothers you, you should probably avoid this book.
Our daughter loves wolves, foxes, anything which resembles a dog. she feels sorry for Wiley Coyote in the Roadrunner cartoons. Naturally she loved Vulpes and accepted the ending with no real trouble.
We purchased and read the Kindle version of the Open Roads Media edition of this book
By Charles van Buren on October 3, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
I got this book for our 9 year old daughter without having any previous knowledge of or experience with Jean Craighead George. Oh the wasted years. This is a phenomenal book about nature and of course the fox in particular. "Vulpes the red fox is the cleverest and boldest kit in his litter." He becomes a clever, bold and curious adult whose many adventures are chronicled in the book.
George combines fiction with things as they are in the real world rather than a sentimental make believe world. Hunters and predators, both animal and human are a part of that world as is death. In the movie Hombre, Paul Newman's character remarks, "We all die. It's just a question of when." I would add two questions - how and where one goes afterwards, but his point is valid. We all die. Every living thing dies. If that bothers you, you should probably avoid this book.
Our daughter loves wolves, foxes, anything which resembles a dog. she feels sorry for Wiley Coyote in the Roadrunner cartoons. Naturally she loved Vulpes and accepted the ending with no real trouble.
We purchased and read the Kindle version of the Open Roads Media edition of this book
January 18, 2016
So this is the story, as you likely know, of a red fox named Vulpes, who is born in the developing Maryland woodlands along the Potomac River, and grows to be a legend for his beauty, intelligence and strength. His real life and his fabled life interweave, and though there is some straining of this relationship between the fabular and the more realistic narrative lines, each meet where they develop into a cautionary tale and an important ode to a particular place and time. Not a moment in time, but an era before urban and suburban development all but destroyed the kind of wooded land where many fables are born.
This is one of those books that doesn't fall neatly into my idea of "great fiction." Not only does it walksa dubious line between anthropomorphizing fiction about animals and narrative non-fiction about woodland areas, but there were also moments where I thought, "Oh no, this is dangerously close to tacky" or "oh no! This is a little tacky." Many individual animals are given names, and that I found a bit distracting at times. But the story remains fresh and compellingly tied to a living, breathing landscape. It does what it is doing well and with a quiet skillfulness.
The book begins the moment Vulpes is born: "Vulpes, the Red Fox, was born in a den in Maryland. It was April. The snow had gone. The woods were cold and wet. A chill rain splashed through the barren woodlands and filled the earth til it could hold no more." And ends the moment he dies. (I won't quote the last sentence, but be prepared for some feelings.)
There is something about the construction of the book (I won't refer to it as simplicity, because I no longer believe this kind of chronological storytelling is simple. It can be made to look that way.), and close attention to natural detail, and the particular way George explores the intellectual life of the fox, that keeps it feeling old-fashioned in a way, and yet keeps it from feeling too dated.
Here is a bit about the author from wikipedia:
"Jean Carolyn Craighead was born in 1919, in Washington DC, and raised in a family of naturalists.[4] Her father, mother, brothers Frank and John, aunts, and uncles were students of nature. On weekends they camped in the woods near Washington, climbed trees to study owls, gathered edible plants, and made fish hooks from twigs. Her first pet was a turkey vulture. George centered her life around writing and nature."
In the end, I think it is an important book, both for drawing us into the vibrant ecosystems and experiencing it just as it is being destroyed in the name of development. It really offering readers a sense of kinship with the wildlife and while the fox is clearly our hero, we are meant to feel respect for both the wilderness and the farmers and trappers.
I think George does a beautiful job of describing the delicate balance at play between humans and the ecosystems they come in contact with. Killing and dying isn't the bad thing in this book. It is a natural part of life. But it's also not something to be taken likely. It's emotionally costly and ultimately can shatter the magic of the places we love. (Everyone thinks they want this handsome fox dead for the sport of it, for his handsome coat, but if they catch him, they have a trophy and lose the vibrant beauty and also the magical myth of him. (There's something Buddhist in the attitude toward death and toward desire. And I can't read a story like this without thinking of Faulkner's The Bear.)
This is one of those books that doesn't fall neatly into my idea of "great fiction." Not only does it walksa dubious line between anthropomorphizing fiction about animals and narrative non-fiction about woodland areas, but there were also moments where I thought, "Oh no, this is dangerously close to tacky" or "oh no! This is a little tacky." Many individual animals are given names, and that I found a bit distracting at times. But the story remains fresh and compellingly tied to a living, breathing landscape. It does what it is doing well and with a quiet skillfulness.
The book begins the moment Vulpes is born: "Vulpes, the Red Fox, was born in a den in Maryland. It was April. The snow had gone. The woods were cold and wet. A chill rain splashed through the barren woodlands and filled the earth til it could hold no more." And ends the moment he dies. (I won't quote the last sentence, but be prepared for some feelings.)
There is something about the construction of the book (I won't refer to it as simplicity, because I no longer believe this kind of chronological storytelling is simple. It can be made to look that way.), and close attention to natural detail, and the particular way George explores the intellectual life of the fox, that keeps it feeling old-fashioned in a way, and yet keeps it from feeling too dated.
Here is a bit about the author from wikipedia:
"Jean Carolyn Craighead was born in 1919, in Washington DC, and raised in a family of naturalists.[4] Her father, mother, brothers Frank and John, aunts, and uncles were students of nature. On weekends they camped in the woods near Washington, climbed trees to study owls, gathered edible plants, and made fish hooks from twigs. Her first pet was a turkey vulture. George centered her life around writing and nature."
In the end, I think it is an important book, both for drawing us into the vibrant ecosystems and experiencing it just as it is being destroyed in the name of development. It really offering readers a sense of kinship with the wildlife and while the fox is clearly our hero, we are meant to feel respect for both the wilderness and the farmers and trappers.
I think George does a beautiful job of describing the delicate balance at play between humans and the ecosystems they come in contact with. Killing and dying isn't the bad thing in this book. It is a natural part of life. But it's also not something to be taken likely. It's emotionally costly and ultimately can shatter the magic of the places we love. (Everyone thinks they want this handsome fox dead for the sport of it, for his handsome coat, but if they catch him, they have a trophy and lose the vibrant beauty and also the magical myth of him. (There's something Buddhist in the attitude toward death and toward desire. And I can't read a story like this without thinking of Faulkner's The Bear.)
August 3, 2016
IF YOU LIKED THIS TRY...
Could only have been written decades ago the way it unapologetically honors the hunter and hunted in the same breath. So good for that reason.
Could only have been written decades ago the way it unapologetically honors the hunter and hunted in the same breath. So good for that reason.
September 30, 2011
Liked it a lot. Okay four stars might be a bit over the top, but (for me) it's worth more than three stars, so there.
The book is all about Vulpes, the Red Fox, as you follow him on his adventures from the moment he's born as a cub.
Small warning: there are some really sad moments, so it might not be suitable for really young readers.
Spoken dialogue is strictly by humans; the animals do not talk (but of course they do interact through smell, sounds etc). Gives quite a realistic feeling to it.
The book is all about Vulpes, the Red Fox, as you follow him on his adventures from the moment he's born as a cub.
Small warning: there are some really sad moments, so it might not be suitable for really young readers.
Spoken dialogue is strictly by humans; the animals do not talk (but of course they do interact through smell, sounds etc). Gives quite a realistic feeling to it.
March 6, 2009
This book was great, but sad... very sad. It was about courage and being different, and so much more. I also wish it had a different and better ending, Vulpes was such a great character. The hunter was a good character, but I despise him for what he did to Vulpes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2024
This was one of my favorites growing up, such a cute book ☺️
Read
March 3, 2012"Vulpes played his part in this activity. Each was intent on securing his own food or prey. This was the normal cycle of the wild. Hunters and hunted, food or prey. Some must perish that others might live. Some found food in plants. The carnivores lived upon the herbivores; and so the cycle went on. Those best able to cope with the world they lived in and satisfy their simple demands, survived.
"For the present, Vulpes was the hunter; perhaps in the morning he would become the hunted."
Kindle location 1642-1646
"A heavy blanket of snow dampened all sounds. No leaves were free to rattle across the woodland floor. The snow lay on the tangled mats of the dormant honeysuckle and weighed the vines down. The thick white cloak made grotesque figures that stood motionless on the woodland floor. Black pools of water at the foot of snow-rimmed falls in the tiny streams heightened the effect of the ghost-like forest. This was the woodland of the wild. So unlike the same woodlot during the day. When the protection of the vale of darkness hung over it, the wild creatures of the woods came out from their hiding places to carry on their life. At night the woods became a primeval forest."
Kindle location 1649-1655
"For the present, Vulpes was the hunter; perhaps in the morning he would become the hunted."
Kindle location 1642-1646
"A heavy blanket of snow dampened all sounds. No leaves were free to rattle across the woodland floor. The snow lay on the tangled mats of the dormant honeysuckle and weighed the vines down. The thick white cloak made grotesque figures that stood motionless on the woodland floor. Black pools of water at the foot of snow-rimmed falls in the tiny streams heightened the effect of the ghost-like forest. This was the woodland of the wild. So unlike the same woodlot during the day. When the protection of the vale of darkness hung over it, the wild creatures of the woods came out from their hiding places to carry on their life. At night the woods became a primeval forest."
Kindle location 1649-1655
March 18, 2023
This one didn't really do it for me. A repetitive story (LOTS of hunting, being hunted and talking about hunting) and I didn't feel connected to our titular fox protagonist at all. The ending was also far too predictable to hit me emotionally.
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...
November 4, 2008
I really loved this book as a child. It was the first book that I sat down and read in one sitting on my own. It also inspired my love of stories from the point of view of animals. It was also the first story where I was truly shocked by the ending. I would definitely recommend this book.
Read
February 10, 2020This book was published in 1948, and there are some things that wouldn't fly today. Okay, a lot of things. And yet, I think it's great to read older books like this one to ponder those changes critically. One thing I miss in today's children's fiction is a lack of stories from an animal's point of view in a way that centers animals. If you think about animal stories today, the animal is a cute wonderful creature for a human to love, not to stand on its own, free of humanity. Example middle grade: A tamed wild animal is separated from its owner, and the book is about both child and animal coming together. Or one famous YA story comes to mind about a mythical wild animal that is captured and then maimed in the course of its captivity, but instead of being released back into the wild (where it can swim without suffering its injury) it chooses love of its human, which is nice, but again, centers the human world as the place where love and bonding happen. As brutal as Vulpes: the Red Fox is, and as much as I want to cuddle all the animals and see real or mythical wild animals choose me over freedom in the wild, another part of me likes how this novel doesn't have a child to possess this fox. No one cuddles Vulpes and makes him their pet and makes his very existence about human passion and want. It's this unflinching lack of sentimentality that I admire. Vulpes himself is an unsentimental fox. When it's time to make a family, the first vixen he sees attracts him, but he doesn't like her hunting skills, so he dumps her. Ha! I think YA fiction could learn something there! Every chapter with Vulpes was excellent, the chapters features humans, less so, mostly because the humans are hunters and also flat, often there to include dialogue for the readers' sake, especially that annoying young man from the city. I don't like Buck Queen (what a name, and why on earth did a woman named May marry him?), but the novel points out that people moving into the country are causing more widespread harm to the red fox's existence. That's a hard truth, that new developments (which we live in) ruins more wild lives than any hunter's gun or trap. I know this book will stay with me and trouble my sentimental heart in ways that are probably good for me.
January 19, 2025
I loved this book for the most part. It’s told primarily from the point of view of a male fox named Vulpes, which is, I believe, the French term for fox. We see Vulpes as a kit and then get to watch him grow quickly until he becomes a father himself. Vulpes is hunted by local humans. They try to trap him and run him with dogs, but Vulpes weathers every storm and in fact enjoys the hunts. He and one particular dog even seem to strike up a kind of adversarial friendship. This dog belongs to the hunter Buck, who is a man of nature and appreciates the wild country and his time in it. All this is grand and beautiful, with some fascinating commentary on the land of Vulpes and the other creatures who live there.
(Potential Spoilers ahead.) Then comes the ending, and it just gutted me. I was quite upset, not because if was badly written, but because of what happened. The author, Jean Craighead Jones (1919 – 2012), wrote over a hundred books for kids and young adults, many having to do with nature and animals. She won a Newbery Medal for a book called Julie of the Wolves. Her writing is excellent and really immerses you in the environment, but I wouldn’t want my child reading this one because of the ending. To be clear, the ending is well done and quite accurate as to the ways humans and nature have collided, but dang it hurt. With great gall, I’ve rewritten the ending for myself and it’s much happier. I’ll definitely be reading more by Jones. I’ve already purchased a few.
(Potential Spoilers ahead.) Then comes the ending, and it just gutted me. I was quite upset, not because if was badly written, but because of what happened. The author, Jean Craighead Jones (1919 – 2012), wrote over a hundred books for kids and young adults, many having to do with nature and animals. She won a Newbery Medal for a book called Julie of the Wolves. Her writing is excellent and really immerses you in the environment, but I wouldn’t want my child reading this one because of the ending. To be clear, the ending is well done and quite accurate as to the ways humans and nature have collided, but dang it hurt. With great gall, I’ve rewritten the ending for myself and it’s much happier. I’ll definitely be reading more by Jones. I’ve already purchased a few.
June 18, 2017
Vulpes is a fox, and he loves to get hunted. He always leads the hunters around the forest, and he gets away easily. But there is one hunter who is really good at catching, and he has a gun.
This book is great! You have got to read it. I like all of it except at the end, because it is sad.
This book is great! You have got to read it. I like all of it except at the end, because it is sad.
February 24, 2020
Good for a young reader. Very appropriate to happenings in nature. Some mature themes that might be missed by younger readers. Follow vulpes, through the complete full life of a fox in north america, his interactions with other animals and man.
June 14, 2023
This was close to being a five-star read, with the woodland setting and details about wildlife woven into narrative form, but it crossed a boundary that I can't overlook, especially in anthropomorphic stories. Overall, an interesting but sad book.
August 17, 2017
I love, LOVE this book! It's in my top 10 and I remember it fondly from when I was younger.
January 18, 2019
I am so glad I read this early JCG book. Looking forward to the monthly read-along in this year that she would have turned 100. Thank you, Craigheads, for keeping JCG's books alive!
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January 20, 2021Dnf
July 30, 2024
A story from another generation, lovely and easy to read. Doesn't shy away from the sometimes brutal facts of life in the woods.
September 13, 2016
Picked up this book after reading "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker. Was thoroughly disappointed in it however. While I loved the initial story of Vulpes the Red Fox (and the descriptions of the forest), I found the book to be a real drag.
Once I reached 58% in the book, I was forcing myself to finish it, simply because I started it. I ended up setting it down and reading two other books (finishing one) before picking this one back up.
Detailed descriptions of the forest are great, but there was way too much, it seemed like filler. The 'thrill' of the chase seemed like the exact same thing each time it was addressed (which it was several times throughout the book).
The dialogue of the human characters was, basic, the book probably could've done better without it to be completely honest.
And last of all
The only reason I really enjoyed this book?
-It was about a fox
-The early chapters of Vulpes' youth
-Vulpes finding a mate
-The last '36 hour' hunt Brownie went on
Everything else was filler to me.
Once I reached 58% in the book, I was forcing myself to finish it, simply because I started it. I ended up setting it down and reading two other books (finishing one) before picking this one back up.
Detailed descriptions of the forest are great, but there was way too much, it seemed like filler. The 'thrill' of the chase seemed like the exact same thing each time it was addressed (which it was several times throughout the book).
The dialogue of the human characters was, basic, the book probably could've done better without it to be completely honest.
And last of all
The only reason I really enjoyed this book?
-It was about a fox
-The early chapters of Vulpes' youth
-Vulpes finding a mate
-The last '36 hour' hunt Brownie went on
Everything else was filler to me.
August 24, 2015
This book is for slightly older readers. Younger might have a hard time with the hunting aspect, as we do spend a bit of time with the hunters.
I loved how we get to know everything about Vulpes without needing to have him 'talk'. Even when he was with his mate, there was no verbal communication between them.
I liked the reoccurring animals that showed up now and again.
Book does get a bit long, but the flow is very good and the pages sail by.
I loved how we get to know everything about Vulpes without needing to have him 'talk'. Even when he was with his mate, there was no verbal communication between them.
I liked the reoccurring animals that showed up now and again.
Book does get a bit long, but the flow is very good and the pages sail by.
May 7, 2009
Great nature-themed story. Follows Vulpes, the Red Fox from birth in his den to exploring the world on wobbly little fox legs, to his interaction with humans and hunting. Very well done...author George writes as if she's actually inside the fox's head!
Just finished...WARNING: Sad ending. I was quite surprised at author George...all in all, still a good book.
Just finished...WARNING: Sad ending. I was quite surprised at author George...all in all, still a good book.
April 25, 2018
While I remember it being well-written with charmingly minimalist illustrations, I made the mistake of flipping ahead to the ending. Thus, George has the rare honor of scarring my childhood self AND creating a character I absolutely despise.
January 9, 2013
My favorite book of all time... I just wish the last chapter wasn't the last chapter. Just like "My Side of the Mountain," the last chapter ruins the book. So, I always stop at the second-to-last chapter!!
September 26, 2013
Vuples the Red Fox was a great example of 3rd person - with a fox. The twist at the end thoroughly surprised me and its amazing how George made this book to where you want Vulpes to live and not the hunters, really!
July 19, 2015
This is just the kind of story I liked when I was a kid. It was like going back to my childhood. Interesting story with beautiful illustrations. Just makes me dislike people who kill for the kill all the more...
August 11, 2008
I pretty much love everything I've read by this author, and I love Vulpes!
October 5, 2008
THIS BOOK SUCKS LOLIPOPS, TOO
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September 28, 2009its a good book
Read
December 24, 2009Just so cute! Sad as well!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews