A Pig, a Fox, and a Box

A Pig, a Fox, and a Box
Written and illustrated by Jonathan Fenske

My rating: ★★★★

ISBN: 978-0448485102
Publisher: Penguin
Date of publication: June 16, 2015
Age: Grades 1 - 2

Themes: trickery, friendship, rhyming

Pig and Fox are friends, but sometimes, Fox likes to play tricks on Pig. In this case, it involves a box. However, Fox soon finds that his plans often go awry, and he may soon find that he doesn't want to play tricks anymore.

I laughed so hard when I read this book, I'm not even kidding. I guess I didn't know what to expect. The title and rhyming scheme of the book makes it vaguely Dr.-Seuss-esque. Which is great for beginning readers--the vocabulary is simple and the rhymes help with a reader's phonetic awareness. Though in rhyme, the story is told through the speech bubbles of the two friends, a trend made popular by books like Elephant & Piggie. Which is great for kids to recognize who is speaking and what emotion should be read. So, in my mind, this book was going to be a mix of the two and be another generic beginning reader.

Oh no. So much funnier. The illustrations are simple (and simply computer generated--so not very exciting) and so is the text, but it has a bit of a snarky-boy-cries-wolf story that really made me laugh. And I think kids will absolutely love it, too. Honestly, I think you should pick this one up and give it a try.

Find it at your library or on Amazon