I absolutely love this book. The illustrations are beautiful with so much colourful detail. The story is very poignant, we've all been stuck in places we don't want to be, trying to find the courage to change our situation. The Fox does just that and the story ends on a positive note, a lesson for us all. The story is told in verse, but not the simple baby verse of early readers. This is much more subtle rhyming, but it flows easily. My grandchildren ( ages 6-10) all enjoyed reading this book and have asked for it a few times. A book to be enjoyed on many levels and one for the bookshelf.
Exquisitely illustrated by Danielle Callaghan, The Homesick Fox is a melancholy tale with an uplifting ending, exploring feelings of isolation and loneliness in an urban fox which has lost its way and yearns for its spiritual home: the countryside. At last the fox can bear his solitude no more, and without knowing where his paws will take him, sets off on a journey into the night.
David Greaves' poetic, multi-layered children's story evokes ‘the call of the wild’, a mysterious and wondrous thing: but The Homesick Fox will also appeal to adults working in the ‘Big Smoke’ and pining for the quietude and slower rhythms of country life.
Born in Yorkshire in 1985, David Greaves' kindness and generosity of spirit, and his love of travel and adventure led him to make friends around the world with people from all walks of life. The stamina and strength of character demonstrated by David's achievements as an ultra-marathon runner and Iron Man triathlete were also shown by his determination to complete The Homesick Fox, and a considerable number of other stories for children while living with the cruel limitations imposed by Motor Neurone Disease (ALS), diagnosed shortly after David's thirtieth birthday in June 2015. In September 2015 David married the love of his life, Philippa, soon after which they climbed Mt Kilimanjaro together, raising over £12,000 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, then travelled widely in East Africa before settling in Newcastle upon Tyne. As MND progressively deprived David of the use of his hands, and then the power of speech, he finished his collection of children's books using revolutionary computer software which allowed him to communicate by tracking and translating into readable text the movement of his eyes. David Greaves passed away peacefully at home in September 2016. David's wife Philippa and his family intend to honour his outstanding gifts as a children's author by eventually publishing all David's completed works.
