I enjoyed the beginning of this story and understood how it could be linked to the current refugee crisis, however I didn't like the way that the fox treated the wild boar and am not sure that this is how we should be encouraging children to treat others. It's a shame as there are some lovely underlying themes of kindness and friendship, accompanied by beautiful illustrations.

A fox can get in much trouble if he makes his home near a farm with chickens and dogs. Our fox is looking for a new home when a pack of dogs try to send him a way. On his adventure to find a new home, he finds new friends. Sometimes we don't know what a friend is until we need him. A lesson on how we need friends.

A special thank you to Clavis Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

The art for this book is absolutely beautiful and will capture a child's attention instantly. The story moves along well and cute as the Fox meets new friends. The story feels a little disjointed for the age group with some of the rhetoric that is used to describe some of the scenes: "explore his new environment" or "run around wildly as he approaches" "more at ease" - environment, approaches, ease - are pretty 'big' words for littles and while it certainly is a great idea to give new words for them to learn and be introduced to they also feel a little out of place within the story for the age that this book is targeted for.

We loved this book. Illustrations were beautiful. The writing was wonderful as was the message. My daughter keeps going back to it to read.

Artistically, this is an incredibly cute and evocative book. Story-wise, though, I did wish the message didn't entail the newcomer fox having to 'prove' his quality and trustworthiness via an amazing feat of courage and smarts--he shouldn't have to be the best in the forest for the others to trust him. This messaging seems more than a little problematic to send to kids (though I realize it's certainly a common enough one in contemporary media around exceptionalism and marginalized identities).

This is a story about a fox no one trusts even though he's just looking for a friend. What can he do to change their minds? A cute enough story with the Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer theme. No one is nice to him, but he saves everyone and then they like him. Not my favorite trope but a good message for kid about being kind.

I liked the main idea that once someone gets to know you, they learn to like you. It's a cute story about acceptance and prejudice but there was kind of a lesson that you won't be accepted unless you can be useful to others. Heads up for the reading experience: it has a happy ending (of course) but the story has a sad tone for most of it. This is also in the heavy use of blues in the art. It would be great for resilient children! (or, very niche, children struggling with a move)

One thing I loved about this book aside from its peculiar illustrations is perhaps the realization I've acquired that I'm truly a visual learner. Kidding aside, even though someone at my age isn't the main audience of this book, I think admitting that I enjoyed this wouldn't hurt at all. This was good and would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a quick and entertaining read.

I decided to read A New Home for Fox because of its cover. Since reading one book over and over, I put a fox in a special spot in my reading chamber.

I love its illustration since the first page.

I was sad for all rejections that happened to the fox. I could not blame all those animals. They just tried to survived. Thanks to the wild boar who made everything changed.

I wish they print it in a better theme font.

Thanks to Net Galley and the Publisher for put this book in READ NOW tab.

This was a nice story with an important message.

The illustrations are lovely, but as the theme is an immigrant fox, I would have loved to see an art style entirely distinct from traditional western.

Though I enjoyed the story, I felt this was the most lacking aspect of the book. The immigrant struggle is real, and I really wish the author had found a way to demonstrate the value of the foreign fox without putting all the other animals in danger. (Perhaps something that demonstrated the truly native traits of the fox and the value that brought to the community of animals.)

I enjoyed the book, and would recommend parents take a look at it.

Poor Fox is chased from his cozy den, and forced into unknown territory. All the animals there seem to have prejudged him: he's too cunning, he'll steal their food, he'll GASP! eat them. But they don't know Fox at all. What will it take to convince them that he's not like they suspect?

This would be a great story for anyone who's had to relocate, and been forced to adapt to new surroundings.

The author includes enough action to keep little ones engaged, and Agnes Ofner's illustrations are lovely. This would make a great read-aloud book.

The illustrations are just too beautiful! I love this kind of picture book full of beautiful illustrations.
Just one thing, in my option of view, the sentences are too long. I think the story should keep simple for younger readers.

I liked this book. It made a good read aloud book for my youngest child. The story is simple, Fox gets displaced and seeks out friends and a new place to call his own. The animals are drawn with a cute style which means that children identify with them quickly. I found the story easy for children to relate to, the emotions Fox felt when he missed his home and couldn’t find friends. I don’t know why but I found the story lacked a certain something. That being said, my child enjoyed it. I would use it in class.

Such a nice little book. The visuals are outstanding, and I wanted more pages. Can I please erase my memory and discover this tiny, beautiful book again? Thank you!

Thank you to Netgalley and Clavis Publishing for access to this arc.

The illustrations are marvelous but the storyline is clunky and not one I'd think would keep a younger child's interest. I can see how this could be used to present a refugee's POV but doubt children would catch on to that without having it pointed out. The idea that none of fox's entreaties for acceptance worked until he'd performed a great deed is also not one I'd recommend presenting to children. 4 stars for the illustrations and 2 for the story so I'll average them to 3 but won't be reviewing this one.

3.5 star
Thank you Netgalley and Clavis Publishing for the e-arc.

The illustrations are beautiful, cute and whimsical. I did not like the typography in the book, it was too small and it did not fit to the graphics. The story itself was too short for me, and feels like something was missing, but it was a cute little story.

A book about a fox who gets chased from his home by dogs, and arrives in a different forrest. The fox is looking for someone who can be their friend, but finds it difficult. The question is will they find a new friend and will they get back home?

I love books with illustrations and this book had great ones! The story was well written and I would recommend it to children. It’s a good story to tell children on how it is for someone to find themselves in a new place for the first time, how difficult it can be to fit in, but then eventually see we shouldn’t judge people by who they are; e.g., the other animals didn’t trust the fox because they thought it was cunning. But! The fox just wanted to be friends.

what a beautiful book with gorgeous pictures in it. Thank you to netgalley for the copy of it, it was a lovely read. This book tells the story of fox who is woken by dogs trying to get into his den so he has to run and becomes lost, he finds some other animals and tries to befriend them but because he is a fox they don't want to know him so he has to help them so they decide to be his friend and help him build a new den. this was a very sweet short story for kids of all ages.

Fox gets chased out of his home by some dogs and he finds himself in a new forest where the animals are not so welcoming. They seem to judge him by his reputation rather than giving him a chance. However, when a wild boar attacks, it is thanks to Fox’s cunning and resourcefulness that the rest of the animals are saved. And this is how they accept him into their circle and make a new home for him in this forest.

Considering only this plot, the story is good enough, though it is never explained why Fox never attempts to find his way back home though he wants to. Still, the prose is nicely structured and the language is pretty manageable. So judging the story simply by virtue of what it presents, it becomes a nice tale of friendship and acceptance, and warns against the perils of judging others based on appearances or reputation without trying to know them.

However, there are a few things that rang the wrong bell for me.
1. The animals accepted Fox only after he put his own life at risk trying to save them from the boar. That seems a bit selfish and I don’t know what kind of message this sends out. Do we trust and befriend only those people who are willing to make huge sacrifices for us?
2. There is a family of chickens whom Fox approaches for help. Now, why exactly would chickens help out a fox, and can we truly blame them when they drive him away?
3. The blurb of this book on Amazon says that the book is a “conversation starter about the immigrant and refugee experience”. I found this connection tenuous. If I hadn’t read this line, I might not even have linked the story to the refugee experience. And even if I had, I would still go back to point 1. A refugee isn’t supposed to prove himself invaluable before being accepted into a new location. It sends the wrong idea.

At first glance, the illustrations appear wonderful. The colours are vibrant and the sketches, cute. The animals and their emotions are depicted well. However, there are certain discrepancies. For instance, when the dogs come barking into the fox’s cave, there is a family of some rodents fast asleep just below Fox’s cavern. How come they weren’t disturbed by this pack of aggressive dogs? In the scene of the wild boar’s attack, the wild boar is drawn almost as tall as the trees, far taller than even the deer escaping from him. How is that possible?

Overall, as long as you don’t overanalyse the story and just read it to children stressing on the moral (making sure to point out the flaw in it), the book might just work. I liked the premise, but I feel that the execution could have been better. The book is targeted at readers aged 5 years and up.

3.5 stars, rounding up to 4.

My thanks to Clavis Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of “A New Home for Fox”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

I enjoy picture books about foxes, but this one kind of missed the mark for me. It's supposed to show the refugee experience, but it feels a little forced, and children who don't see the parallels might wonder why Fox doesn't just go home after the danger has passed.

One day, while Fox is sleeping, some nasty dogs get into his den, flush him out, and chase him out of his familiar forest. As he tries to talk to other animals, he's met with prejudice and shunning. But then a big boar comes along and chases the other animals. Fox tricks it into falling off a cliff, and the other animals celebrate Fox as a hero. He decides to stay and build a new life for himself.

Because Fox mentioned his old friends, I found it a little unrealistic that he'd just settle in the new forest without a second thought. Why can't he go back to his old den? The dogs are probably long gone, and Fox has a whole life there. That part was kind of weak for me.

I'm also not a fan of the writing. Aside from the continual comma splicing, there's a bit too much internal monologuing from Fox, which seems like a heavy-handed way to show what the story's all about (finding new friends in a new place). I don't think a lot of that was necessary.

I will say, though, that I enjoyed the illustrations. Fox's anthropomorphized den at the beginning is adorable, and the limited colour palette works nicely. I do wish that the climactic moment with the boar had been a little better executed (we go from Fox hearing the commotion to the boar falling off the cliff, completely skipping Fox's heroic moment where he leads the animals and devises his trick); the narrative explains it, but I would've liked to see it illustrated.

Overall, this isn't the best picture book I've read, either about foxes or about the refugee experience. It's not bad, but it has a few issues that would make me hesitant to wholeheartedly recommend it.