Fox and Bear

by Miriam Körner

Fox and Bear live happily in the forest until Fox decides to make life more productive and efficient. When Fox's inventions set off a chain of events that complicates life in unexpected ways, Bear is faced with the difficult decision about how he wants to live. This a modern fable that raises existential questions for readers of all ages. The illustrations for Fox and Bear were created using recycled paper cut-outs and cardboard dioramas.

Genres: Picture Books, Canada, Childrens

32 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2022

About the author

Miriam Körner is a best-selling and award-winning author for young adults and children, who lives in Northern Saskatchewan in a small cabin tucked away in the bush with her husband and their sixteen sled dogs.

Reviews

[ATLANTIC BOOK REVIEWS · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains everything that deserves to be an award winning picture book. Once again I am blown away by Miriam Korner's beautiful heart that shines through spectacularly in this stunning book. It is evident in her writing that Miriam has a deep love for the earth and her creatures.

The underlying theme of this book is forest preservation, but there is so much more. Fox and Bear quickly learn the importance of being happy with what we have and understanding the trade-off between a life that’s rich thanks to the simplicity of living with nature and one made materially rich by efficiency and accumulation. Themes of sustainability and living in harmony with our natural resources take centre stage here.

Let me just point out that every illustration in this book is made from recycled materials which gives even more meaning to the story. I hope to one day see Miriam's dioramas in real life. For now I will return to the book again and again to marvel at her talent and her amazing use of each and every recycled material to make this book mean so much.

Bravo Miriam!

[Blanche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Library book There's a message for everyone in this book, regardless of your age

[Paul Sutter]

FOX AND BEAR is a fun tale of two animals in the forest, who have different activities to keep them happy. The fox is content to hunt for eggs. The bear slept some of the time before he picked berries and mushrooms, and found ants and mice.
Then both animals pondered a simpler way of doing things. What about if they built devices to collect eggs, and even to find berries. It would give them more time for leisurely activities. So both animals make some plans up and before too long, they found their ideas have become reality.
Through the spirit of cooperation and ingenuity, they could still enjoy the forest, but on their own time frame.

[Maris Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are incredibly unique, they appear to be made from cardboard and recycled paper materials which gave this book a very unique visual appeal. Fox and Bear keep trying to make changes to their everyday lives in order to have more time to do things that they enjoy, but with each change, they still weren’t able to engage in those leisurely activities because they were too exhausted from doing chores and working all day. This sheds light onto some of the things that people in today’s society struggle with that may not make sense to everyone, especially children in a way that they can understand.

[EkoGecko · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this is more of a children’s book, I very much enjoyed it. I recently learned that the author created all the illustrations herself out of recycled materials - every leaf was hand-folded, every character in every pose hand-drawn, and every blade of grass hand-cut. I loved the message of respecting nature and the art. I bought the book simply for the beauty of it. I will definitely read more books by Miriam Körner, and would reccommend!

[Barbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beautiful brown and black pictures in this book have been created using recycled paper cut-outs and cardboard dioramas. It follows bear and fox as they forage for food and enjoy the forest. When Fox comes up with a plan to be more productive their lives become full of chores, with no time to appreciate their surroundings like they used to. A great message for young and old about taking time to love the little things in life.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am wondering about the message. Is the message for children or adults? Is it about not over complicating our lives or is it a message to say we already have. Is it a message to forgo creativity and thinking and creating and just living simply? I am not sure.

I do love the illustrations which is why I gave this three stars.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thought-provoking story about the way we've overcomplicated our lives and lost sight of the simple things in nature that bring joy. The artwork in this book is amazing: intricate cardboard cut-outs and dioramas, all created by the author with recycled paper.

[Janet Barclay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a heartbreaking reminder of the damage we have done to our own world. I am interested in seeing how it resonates with kids.

[Karen Carlson]

h/t the Marginalian
https://www.themarginalian.org/2023/0...
a little simplistic, but I love the art