FINDING FOXTALE FOREST

Hewitt’s whimsical fantasy for young readers features a group of five diverse 9-year-old girls and their adventures in a magical realm.

The novel begins following five seemingly disparate storylines, each focusing on a 9-year-old girl: They include Danielle “Dani” Flores, who lives in California and loves music and riding her bike; Paxton “Pax” Dawes, a Tennessee girl whose fractious twin sisters drive her crazy; Amy Wong, who resides in Texas and is about to start third grade in a new school; hard-driving Michigander Keziah “Kez” Williams; and Evangeline “Eva” Franklin of New York City, who loves hanging with her career-oriented mother and wants things in her life to be organized. One by one, the girls are visited by a talking fox who brings them to Foxtale Forest, a wondrous place where all stories begin: “The leaves, grass, and tree trunks…glittered like the inside of a treasure chest.” Once there, the girls magically travel through portals into stories that need their help to have happy endings. One of the obvious strengths of this novel, aside from the highly identifiable and endearing young characters, is the sense of wonder created through the imagery. When helping a desert town battling drought and scary cloud creatures, the girls stay at an inn with beds as “soft as marshmallows.” A boy from the town is described as having “a haystack of hair.” In another adventure, when the girls attempt to help the captain of a steamship obsessed with treasure hunting, they discover a door that opens “with a groan like an old man standing up.” Additionally, the existential lessons imparted on the power of friendship, kindness, and love will surely affect readers. The narrative is complemented by visually stunning full-color illustrations throughout by Layne, which enrich the reading experience exponentially.

An entertaining, educational, and empowering story for young readers.