Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night

by Wendy Watson

An illustrated version of the classic folk song from 1810 tells the story of how papa fox goes off to town on a dark night to try to get dinner for his family

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction

1 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Wendy Watson is an author and illustrator of children's books. She is the daughter of Nancy Dingman Watson and Aldren A. Watson and the sister of Clyde Watson.

Reviews

[Brigid Keely · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an illustrated version of the folk song "Fox went out on a chilly night," a song which originated in England but found a home among the Appalachian mountains in the USA, and there to a wider USian audience. If you're familiar with the song, it's easy to sing along; if you're unfamiliar with the song, the words are lyric enough that they are fun to read aloud. There's some sheet music on the last page if you need the tune. The illustrations are charming and colorful.

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to pretend I'm Joe Strummer when I'm singing this...

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alissa liked Old Mother Slipper Slopper.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun song illustrated with the music in the back. We watched a YouTube video after from Appalachian morning.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

An illustrated song about a fox that goes out on a chilly night, steals a goose, and brings it home to feed to his charming family. I was a bit surprised to sing the part about killing and carving the goose. All part of having a goose for dinner, of course, but not usually included in modern books for children.

Anyway, I wanted to read The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night, which won a 1962 Caldecott Honor. Clearly I need to be more careful about placing holds at the library!

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may have to book talk this one because I don't do well reading books that are actually songs. I always want to start singing it, and then I flip through the pages too fast, or pause in the song while I'm reading...and all of it makes me look really ridiculous. And, actually, it doensn't have too much to do with chilly, so maybe I'll just pass the whole thing up. The pictures were cute.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must have read this a hundred times to our grown boys when they were pre-school. That age loves rhythm and rhyme. My husband read it magnificently. A good read aloud.