Fox — Margaret Wild

Wild departs from her playful characters of recent books for this haunting look at friendship and cruelty geared to older readers...After Dog saves Magpie from a fire and nurses her burnt wing the two forge a powerful bond...The mood changes quickly however when Fox enters - his sleek orange body curled around one side of a spread - and sets Magpie on edge...The stark illustrations in mixed media and collage expose the characters raw emotions with brusque hash marks in thick applications of mostly dark paint...The tale ends on a tenuously hopeful note and the images from this unsettling provocative story will resonate long after the book has been closed. -Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)