Publication Date: 5 September 2019

The Blurb

A young white fox called Dilah returns home to find his mother gravely injured.

Before she dies, she tells him about a treasure with the power to make animals human. The clues to its location are contained in a moonstone buried beneath their den. But wicked blue foxes seek the treasure too, and Dilah must race to find it first. Along the way, he befriends all sorts of other creatures: a friendly seal, an ancient tortoise and a fierce leopard – but can he stay one step ahead of his enemies?

The Review

Translated by the award-winning Jennifer Feeley, rich language brings Dilah’s story to an English reading audience – the first modern middle grade book to be translated from Chinese to English.

A daring tale of discovery, (both of himself and the world) friendship, nature, civilisation, and what it means to be human, White Fox is full of delight and danger.

Dilah must learn who to trust as he undertakes the quest his mother set for him, to follow his curiosity and become human. What he learns along the way, from the myriad of animals he meets, helps him to understand the stories his mother has told him since birth and who his family are.

Beautiful black-and-white line illustrations by acclaimed young Chinese artist Viola Wang pepper the story, bring the changing landscape Dilah’s quest takes him on to life, and capturing the friends, and enemies, he makes along the way.

With more to come, this looks like a great series for Year 4 readers and up ready for a more challenging chapter book.

If you like the sound of White Fox, head over to Chicken House to read an extract.

Huge thanks to Laura and Chicken House for sending me a review copy.