Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker

Scary Stories for Young Foxes

by Christian McKay Heidicker and illustrated by Junyi Wu

 
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This story begins with seven fox kits begging their mother to tell them a scary story. Their mother says if they really want to hear  “a story so frightening it will put the white in your tail," they need to venture out into Antler Wood to find a storyteller who lives in Bog Cavern. So the brave kits do just that. And the kits get just what they asked for - six stories that are so dark and so scary and so creepy that one by one the foxes run back home to their mother.

The scary story revolves around two young foxes named Mia and Uly. Mia and her mother are forced to leave their den when members of their family are stricken with "the yellow," a disease which sounds a lot like rabies. When Mia and her mother become separated, she is forced to live on her own until she can reunite with her mother.

Uly is constantly teased by his sisters because he was born with only three good paws, and the sisters fill his brain with images of all the creatures that will be able to attack him because he is small, weak, and cannot run. Uly's father is ashamed of him because of his paw, and forces him to run away.

The two young foxes encounter terrifying things such as a poisonous snake, hunters' traps, a vicious badger, an author who captures animals so she can include them in her stories, and a monstrous creature Uly calls "the Golgathursh." 

I would recommend this story for students in grades 4 and up, but only for students who enjoy creepy and scary stories. Wu's occasional black and white illustrations effectively depict the bleak situations the foxes face. On several occasions I thought to myself "this is a story for children??" because the stories often became a bit dark. But the storytelling is amazing, and I enjoyed how the narrative switched from the scary stories back to the scene with the kits listening to the story in Bog Cavern.  The way the tales interweave is brilliant, explaining why it received a Newbery Honor Award this year.