Flossie & the Fox

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Flossie & the Fox
Flossie & the Fox.jpg
First edition
Author Pat McKissack
Illustrator Rachel Isadora
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish
Genre Children's literature, picture book, Trickster tale
Published1986 (Dial Books for Young Readers)
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages32 (unpaginated)
ISBN 9780803702516
OCLC 13092593

Flossie & the Fox is a 1986 picture book by Patricia C. McKissack about a girl, Flossie, who takes some eggs to a neighbor, meets a fox on the way and manages to outwit it. In 1991, a film adaptation of the book was made with the author narrating.

Contents

Reception

Kirkus Reviews , in a starred review of Flossie & the Fox, wrote "Isadora's watercolor, ink and pencil illustrations fully realize the spirit of the text, with Flossie's sturdy, self-reliant stance and the fox growing progressively more tentative and defensive. Mellow green, lemon, rust and earth tones fill a safe, sun-dappled world." The review called it "A perfect picture book." [1] School Library Journal wrote "The language is true, and the illustrations are marvelously complementary in their interpretation of the events. This spirited little girl will capture readers from the beginning, and they'll adore her by the end of this delightful story." [2]

Flossie & the Fox has also been reviewed by Booklist , [3] and Publishers Weekly . [4]

It is a 1986 Horn Book Fanfare Book, [5]

Analysis

In discussing literary innovations in diverse children's literature, scholar Jonda C. McNair explores how the dialogue present in Patricia C. McKissack'a Flossie & the Fox portrays African American English Vernacular in a positive light. This link discusses its use of a clever character that is able to outsmart the fox who speaks standard English. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia McKissack</span> American writer

Patricia C. McKissack was a prolific African American children's writer. She was the author of over 100 books, including Dear America books A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl;Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, The Great Migration North; and Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl. She also wrote a novel for The Royal Diaries series: Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba. Notable standalone works include Flossie & the Fox (1986), The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural (1992), and Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman? (1992). What is Given from the Heart was published posthumously in 2019.

Rachel Isadora is an American illustrator, children's book author, specializing in picture books, and painter. She is most famous for the book Ben's Trumpet, runner-up for the 1980 Caldecott Medal, or Caldecott Honor Book, and winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book honor. Ben's Trumpet was adapted to video and also translated into a ballet by the Boston ballet company BalletRox in 2009. The more than 150 children's books Isadora has written and illustrated span a wide variety of topics, including ballet and dance, American urban culture and family life, life in Africa, and traditional fairy tales. Several of Isadora’s books have been selected by Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Isadora was a professional ballet dancer before an injury led to a change of careers. In addition to freelance writing and illustration, Isadora shows and sells oil paintings, many of which reflect her love of dance, as well as her experiences living in Africa and New York City.

<i>Mirandy and Brother Wind</i> 1988 childrens picture book by Patricia McKissack

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<i>John Henry</i> (picture book) Book by Julius Lester

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<i>Never Forgotten</i> 2011 picture book by Pat McKissack

Never Forgotten is a 2011 picture book by Pat McKissack about a blacksmith father in West Africa who has Musafa, his son, kidnapped by slavers and with the assistance of the four elements discovers that Musafa is working in Charleston as a blacksmith's apprentice.

<i>Where Crocodiles Have Wings</i>

Where Crocodiles have Wings is a 2005 children's picture book by Patricia McKissack and illustrated by Bob Barner. It is a rhyming story where imaginative animals occur.

<i>A Million Fish ... More or Less</i> Book by Patricia McKissack

A Million Fish ... more or less is a 1992 children's picture book by Patricia McKissack. It is about a boy of the bayou, Hugh Thomas, who has a fishing adventure.

<i>Red-Tail Angels: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II</i> 1995 childrens book by Patricia McKissack

Red-Tail Angels: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II is a 1995 Children's picture book by Patricia and Frederick McKissack. It is about the African Americans of the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the USAF who were known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

<i>Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters</i> 1994 childrens book by Patricia McKissack and Frederick McKissack

Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters is a 1994 children's book by Patricia McKissack and Frederick McKissack. It is about the preparations and workings around the Christmas season on a slave plantation in 1850s Virginia.

<i>The All-Ill-Ever-Want Christmas Doll</i> Book by Patricia McKissack

The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll is a 2007 picture book by Patricia McKissack and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. It is about a girl, Nella, living during the Great Depression who amazingly receives a doll for Christmas, initially doesn't share with her sisters but then relents after discovering that it's not fun to play by herself.

<i>The Honest-to-Goodness Truth</i>

The Honest-to-Goodness Truth is a 2000 picture book written by Patricia McKissack and illustrated by Giselle Potter. It is about a girl, Libby Louise, who decides to only tell the truth, the problems this causes, and her eventual understanding about the need for empathy and kindness in some situations.

<i>Porch Lies</i>

Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters is a 2006 book by Patricia McKissack, and illustrated by Andre Carrilho, published by Schwartz & Wade Books. It is a collection of tales based on oral stories that McKissack heard from her grandfather and his friends when she was a child.

<i>Ma Dears Aprons</i>

Ma Dear's Aprons is a 1997 book by Patricia McKissack about the relationship between a son, David Earl, and his mother, Ma dear.

<i>Stitchin and Pullin</i>

Stitchin' and Pullin': A Gee's Bend Quilt is a 2008 picture book by Patricia McKissack and illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera. It is about a young girl, Baby girl, who, growing up amongst the quilters of Gee's Bend, Alabama, makes her first quilt.

<i>Ol Clip-Clop</i> Book by Patricia McKissack

Ol' Clip-Clop: A Ghost Story is a 2013 children's picture book by Patricia McKissack about John Leep, a stingy landlord, who cheats a tenant but then gets his come-uppance.

<i>Tippy Lemmey</i>

Tippy Lemmey is a 2003 chapter book by Patricia McKissack about three children, Leandra, Paul, and Jeannie, who are terrorised by a neighborhood dog, called Tippy Lemmey, but manage to overcome their fears and befriend him.

<i>Lets Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!</i> 2017 book by Patricia McKissack

Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!: Games, Songs & Stories From An African American Childhood is a 2017 book by Patricia McKissack. It is a collection of games, songs, proverbs, stories including those from McKissack's childhood.

<i>Wolf in the Snow</i> 2017 wordless picture book

Wolf in the Snow is a 2017 wordless picture book by Matthew Cordell. The book was favorably received by critics and won the 2018 Caldecott Medal. The story has drawn comparisons to fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood. The nearly wordless book tells the story of a girl and wolf who each get lost in the snowstorm. Cordell used distinctive illustration techniques for the girl and the wolf.

Susan Marie Guevara is an American sculptor and illustrator, who is best known for her illustrations in picture books. She was born in Walnut Creek, California and now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Susan received a BFA in illustration from Academy of Art College in San Francisco. She took time off between her first and second years and moved to Belgium where she was able to study with Remy Van Sluys and take painting and drawing classes at Royal Academy of Fine Art. She was the first recipient of the Pura Belpré Medal Award in 1996 for Gary Soto's Chat's Kitchen. She won again in 2002 for Gary Soto's Chato and the Party Animals, and was a recipient of a Pura Belpré Honor Award for Susan Elya Middleton's Little Roja Riding Hood.

<i>Who Will Bell the Cat?</i> Childrens picture book by Patricia McKissack and illustrated by Christopher Cyr

Who Will Bell the Cat? is a 2018 children's picture book by Patricia McKissack. Based on the fable Belling the Cat, it was published by Holiday House and is illustrated by Christopher Cyr. It concerns a group of mice who nurse back to health an ungrateful terrifying cat called Marmalade, make a bell and collar warning device, and how they manage to collar the cat with it.

References

  1. "Flossie and the Fox (starred review)". Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Media LLC. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  2. Flossie & the Fox. 1986. OCLC   13092593 . Retrieved February 12, 2017.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  3. "Flossie & the fox". Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. Retrieved February 12, 2017. The story lends itself to reading aloud; the proper dramatic expression will make this a crowd pleaser.
  4. "Flossie and the Fox". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz LLC. October 28, 1986. Retrieved February 12, 2017. This is a sly tale, richly evoked by both Isadora's lavish paintings and the storyteller's dialect.
  5. "Horn Book Fanfare: Best Books of 1986 - Picture Books". The Horn Book. Media Source. December 5, 1986. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  6. McNair, J. C. (2010). Classic African American children's literature. The Reading Teacher, 64(2), 96-105.
  7. Bernice E. Cullinan; Diane Goetz Person (2005). The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. A&C Black. p. 537. She (McKissack) sees connections between Flossie and the Fox (1986) and Little Red Riding Hood.
  8. Jeffrey Glanz; Linda S. Behar-Horenstein (2000). Paradigm Debates in Curriculum and Supervision: Modern and Postmodern Perspectives. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 180. Another powerful way to introduce the concept of multiple perspectives in elementary classrooms is by reading different story books on the same event, like .. Little Red Riding Hood and Flossie & the Fox
Library holdings of Flossie & the fox
"Around the world with tricksters" - School Library Journal article that lists trickster tales including Flossie & the fox