Fox on a Box

Usborne Phonics Readers

by Phil Roxbee Cox

Fox finds a cardboard box and tries to use it in a variety of attempts to find food for himself.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Animals, Education

16 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2003

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike many 'first readers' most of the words in this story are ones the kids can sound out. The word choice, rhymes, art, and flap pages make for a book that I think my nephew will like.

[Kirsty Cabot · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for new readers. Some more challenging words for ivy to work on. Nice illustrations. She loves finding the duck on each page. And a lift the flap is always a winner.

Read (mostly) by Ivy

[Kayla Heenan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal Reaction:
I thought this book was a very cute book for beginner readers. The pictures were adorable and it would be comical for almost any child in that age group. I could for sure see myself having my students and/or kids reading this book.
Purpose/Use in Classroom:
This book contains a lot of phonetic awareness and would be great to read aloud to students in a pre-school setting. It would really help students learn how to read while giving them a lot of entertainment. With the help of a parent or a teacher this book would be good for students to read in pre-school especially if they have a love for animals.
Elements:
The pictures in this book are just as important as the words. They help the reader understand what is happening throughout the story and it amplifies the comedic factor as the reader reads the story.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of a set of 12 phonics books published in 2006 by Usborne. What I like about this early set is that the books very much focus on a particular phonics sound and rhyme throughout the book rather than lots of different rhymes like the later books. They are quick and easy to read in the entire set in a sitting.

Miss 4 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

[Qatra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fantastic resource for children building their phonics skills. The engaging illustrations and thoughtful activities by Phil Roxbee Cox effectively support young readers as they practice blending and segmenting sounds. It's designed to make phonics enjoyable while reinforcing key literacy skills. A must-have for parents or educators seeking a fun and supportive way to help children grow in confidence with reading.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute!

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fox finds lots of uses for his box, but can you guess which use is best? Here's a hint - PIE!

[Lex Redding · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son loved this story about a cheeky Fox.

[Lev · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked that the fox at first was trying to find some food but in the end it didn't notice that it had a box with a big cake.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s got an amusing ending.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

An older book, with flaps, but not a strict rhyming structure. Pup and Fat cat make cameos, but sadly not Big Pig. Still cute though.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a phonics book which often makes for a dull read. However this is a fun tale with a cute fox.

[Mom_reading_childrens_books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the whole series because of the awesome illustrations and because it's fun to read aloud, but, story-wise, this isn't one of our favourites.

[Alyssa Ruehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal reaction –
This book is adorable. There are different folds in the page, meaning there are some pages that turn into 2 pages by unfolding half of it. The book is very colorful and the fox is cute and always smiling.

read aloud to make a curricular connection
I would read this book aloud to kindergarteners or first graders in a literary sense. I would introduce protagonists and antagonists, because the fox in the story just wants to stay in the box, but a cat and a dog try to knock the fox out of the box. This would be shown that not every character is a good character, some characters may run into problems with other people/animals/things as well!

independent reading
This would be great for kindergarteners or first graders who have an interest with animals, or words that rhyme. This book is very easy to read, and there is one sentence on each page, which helps the reader also learn the story through the colorful pictures.

literary elements that could be taught using the book
The repetitiveness could help the students identify patterns within books, and the rhyming would help the students understand the purpose of rhyming within books. The rhyming is easy to follow, such as fox and box, and duck and luck. The repetitiveness includes "Hungry fox spots a box, hungry fox jumps on the box" and so on, which is easy for children to spot!

other
This book would capture children's attention because of the fold out pages, they would be fun for children to turn, and they would be able to see more pictures, which would excite them!

[Saliha Nazir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fox on a box is an excellent book specifically aimed at early years as it is a good book for beginner readers. The use of interesting, colourful illustrations complement the text and spark further interest and instantly draws the child to the book as it is visually stimulating. The fold out flaps help to make the reading experience more interactive for younger children and helps gain attention towards the books. The book incorporates synthetic phonics which could be used with children on the early stages of reading when learning to blend words together. The use of simple, repetitive and rhyming words such as “fox” and “box” can help increase a child’s confidence as they would be able to familiarise themselves with the similar sounds. Fox on a box further enhances the entertaining element by including a hidden yellow duck on each page, which would be fun to engage the child as they would be more inclined to choose this book to find the hidden yellow duck on each page.

[Danie Cutter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, easy words for children learning to read. Like the fact that while it uses phonics there are also "patterns" for the words eg Goose and Loose so is suited to pattern recognition methods of learning to read as well.

Have bought the whole series as daughter loves these. While the words are simple there's still enough of a story/action to keep her interested (just) while too many early reading books are three word sentences, one sentence per page and only a few pages per book.

This set of books is top of the learn to read books we've come across so far.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have heard really good things about Usborne books and saw a stack of these at a garage sale and so I bought them for my toddler. They are billed as "easy readers" and contain a phonics guide for parents that I don't even pay attention to, but could be helpful if I was teaching my son about phonetics. The pictures are colorful and the words rhyme. But, I have found that every story is rather dumb and some of the stories don't even make sense. I do plan on keeping these for when he starts reading because they do use words that are easy to read. Just wish the story was better.

[Stephanie Skolmoski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early readers will love this book. The rhyming makes it easy to read and the fold out pages adds a little surprise throughout the book. It's a great book for a young reader to read to a per-schooler. The illustrations are fun to look at and tell the story along with the words. All in all children will love the adventures of Fox and his box and the surprise ending! Phil Roxbee Cox and Stephen Cartwright knew just how to captivate their young audience.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to get children reading by themselves. The repetitiveness makes it easy for them to remember the words. My 4 year old son read this book to me and said he really enjoyed it and thought it was good.

[Sarah A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best in the series with far less rhyming and relatable content for the early reader. Also randomly throws in "heaves" and "snout" which are pretty heavy words towards the end of the book. Fun and interesting with flaps to open and reveal more story for the early reader.

[Roxane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for beginners

[krym · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't get it but maybe early readers will but I could use this for short "o".

[Elanor]

All by herself!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

ATOS 1.0

[Laurene Allibert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to read this book to the child that I had to take care of during my time as an aupair but I don't find it particularly interesting.

[Debra]

These Usborne phonics readers are bright and attractive with a fun flip out pages. This book is all about the "ox" sound. A fun story. Fox is so hungry and tries all sorts of things to get some food, using the box that he has found in the back yard. He finally falls thru the box that he has been using and discovers that it has a delicious surprise inside. Back of the book give a vocabulary list and notes the words that do not follow the phonics rules. I am surprised by the introduction of contractions early on. I know we talk that way, but I always thought it was a cool trick when I discovered that shortcut for myself.