City Foxes

by Wendy Shattil, Wendy Shattil (Photographs), Denver Museum of Nature & Science (Contributor)

Award-winning wildlife photographer Wendy Shattil records the touching, true story of an urban fox family as the kits grow up in a grassy cemetery.

Genres: Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1997

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've looked through this book before, but because I'm a neurotic twit I hadn't read it, because I was worried that 'reading' the book would mess with my reading challenge numbers and because I worry about stupid shit while the important stuff all goes to shit I kept putting off 'reading' the book. So I would ignore the text and just look at the pictures some time to time.

First off, Thank You Jen Fisher! This book is so wonderful and it was a totally unexpected surprise present to arrive at my house one day!

Yeah, it's a kid's book, so what?

The photographs are great and the text isn't bad either, although it is written for kids.

The book follows a family of foxes living in an urban cemetery from early spring when six kits are born till mid-summer when the foxes move on from the cemetery. Did I mention there are great photographs?

My cellphone pictures of the pictures of the book don't really do the pictures justice, but how can there be a review about a fox book without some of the pictures of the foxes?







Thank you again, Jen!!! And Yay Foxes!!

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun picture book for kids that's focused on animals and science communication. This time, as evident from the title, the subject is foxes - specifically, foxes that live in an urban environment.

What sets this one apart is that the images come from photographs rather than drawings or paintings, and though this isn't unusual I've seen a lot more of the latter recently, so it's worth noting. I'm not entirely sure if the book developed out of the photographs, but that's the impression I got. Wendy Shattil is a wildlife photographer, and she spent some weeks recording a fox family that lived in a local cemetery... and they're wonderful photos, honestly the best thing about the book. The text is fairly basic, informative enough for young children but not especially outstanding in any way. Honestly, most people who pick this up will do so for the photos. I don't know if I find them especially appealing because foxes don't live in New Zealand, and so they seem especially fluffy and cute and not at all like pests, which I understand they can be in parts of the world, but appealing they are.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

City foxes is a story about the lives of a fox family. What sets this family apart is that they are city dwellers—urban foxes. Author Susan Tweit tells about the everyday lives of these magnificent creatures and how they differ somewhat from their country cousins. The beautiful photos of the foxes taken by Wendy Shattil add immensely to the story. Told through photos, the reader can learn about fox families, their behavior, diet, lifespan, voices, color, size, and much more. This wonderful children’s book will appeal to adults as well as to children!