This is not a book I found interesting until I saw it was a Newbery Honor recipient. So, I checked it out and kept putting off reading it. . . Finally took it to my library to read on my breaks and finally finished. The first parts were just icky and creepy. Then Beatrix Potter shows up. Interesting, but this was no the Miss Potter I remember from the movie of the same name. Grrrrr. As we continue to spend time with Uly and Mia they really began to grow on me and I was rooting for them. The ending is well done. I do think this is not a book I would recommend to every kid like I would a book like "New Kid."

Seven little foxes go to listen to the storyteller late at night in the Antler Wood and one by one return home rather than listen to all of the scary stories. All except one little fox - who stays the whole night. This is a very suspenseful book with lots of creepiness to get your spine tingling. It's also a wonderful story about love, friendship, and overcoming adversity. I highly recommend this Newbery Honor book (2020) for any age reader who likes creepy stories.

This book is really well-written, and I actually thought it was a little more funny than scary. If you do get scared, make sure you read until the end because you will see a nice resolution to the end of the story.

I am neither particularly young nor a fox however these stories kept me awake way past my bedtime two nights in a row! Though these animals can talk to each other and there is a little sprinkling of magic thrown into one of the stories, most of what is scary (and it is legitimately scary) is just the reality of the natural world. A literary wink to someone who has always kind of given me the creeps and the fact that most things sort out okay in the end made me glad I stuck with this book but I'm not going to lie; there were definitely times when I wished I hadn't even started it! (Warning: not everyone survives in the wild so do you think that everyone survives this wild animal story?)

Newbery Honor 2020