Title: A Fox in the Family
Author: Jane Conner King
Publisher: Toplink Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 978-1-949169164
Pages: 100
Genre: Non-Fiction, Young Adult
Reviewed by: Barbara Miller
Hollywood Book Review
One would have to have lived the experiences gained by author Jane Conner King in order to write with such detailed animal behavioral personification, bringing to life Frisky and Friendly, two foxes brought into their rural home, already filled with dogs, cats, a horse, a pony and other animals. Jane and her husband Jim, along with their two boys Carter and Chris, their Jack Russell Terrier Maggie, and a revolving door of other domesticated animals all converge over these newly acquired fox pups, rescued from a neighbor’s farm during a demolition. At first, Frisky and Friendly were as small as 4-week-old kittens, and were accustomed to snuggling by burrowing themselves deeply into a shelter. They liked to be in boxes in the garage, between the sheets of the boys beds, or even within the pajamas of the kids – finding their way into snuggling in the armpits of the boys as they giggled – because of the tickling.
The foxes grew quickly, getting into more and more mischief all around the house and property. Of frequent frustration was Frisky’s propensity to remove phone receivers off the hook to listen to the dial tone and ultimately the beeping. Frankly King’s storyteller demonstrates the love and patience of a saint, as she is the animal-loving type who doesn’t get upset over little things, such as scratched furniture, socks gnawed at the toes or missing altogether, or even once having Frisky “steal” her pork-chop right off the dinner table and run away with it. At one point in the story, Frisky was set “free” into the woods, yet only to wander back with a broken leg. The reason being, as a partly domesticated animal, Frisky was too welcoming to other dogs and became the victim of an attack due to its undeveloped instinctual “friend or foe” reaction in the wild.
A Fox in the Family has a wide appeal to a broad reading audience. Ideal for youngster’s to be read to or read by themselves – on through the young adult years. This is because of the skill of the storytelling by Jane Conner King. She interlaces pen-and-ink drawings helping to convey the imagery of her prose, combining a very personal and comforting reader’s environment making it encouraging to page this book, anxious to see what happens next. Once completed, readers are rewarded with a series of actual family photographs, showing the boys, the foxes, the dogs and others which readers have come to know and love. That touch is truly the icing on the cake of a well written tale – or should I say tail?