I hope you are all looking forward to the weekend, I know I am! The first week back at university is always quite intense and this year is certainly no exception. I haven't really had time for any long stints of reading so instead I turned to the short stories and wanted to share this review with you.
The Fox and The Star is a stunning debut book by Coralie Bickford-Smith. I had never heard of this author before, so here is a little about her. Coralie currently works at the Penguin Books publishing house designing covers and graphics for other books. Some of you may recognise her work from the gorgeous cloth-bound Penguin Classics released not too long ago, you can check out some of her work here. The Fox and The Star is her first published book and my word what a book to start on! I have to admit I didn't know anything about the story before I opened the book, I was drawn in by the cover art alone.
The fox and The Star is a modern day fable, not dissimilar to the works of the celebrated french story teller Jean de la Fontaine. The story follows the journey of a young, timid fox guided by his friend Star. She lights his way and helps him to feel brave in the darkness, until one day she disappears. Fox is crushed and hides himself away deep in a burrow, but that is no life for a young fox so he ventures out to seek his star. He searches high and low, asking many creatures if they have seen her. Eventually his quest brings him to a new part of the forest, taking pity on him the forest shakes off her leaves to leave Fox a message. The message tells him to look up, he does so and his breath is taken away. His star was not alone in the night sky, she is one of millions, learning this gives Fox the courage to explore the world, safe in the knowledge that his star is up there somewhere watching over him.
I loved this story so much that as soon as I had finished reading it, I turned back to page one and read it all over again. The art is so beautiful too, each page is a delight and made grin from ear to ear! I also love the morals behind this fable, I think taking a moral from a story is very personal, but I would like to share mine with you. Courage in even the darkest of times will be rewarded and that there is always light and joy if you only look for it hard enough. Some people will read this and just hear a nice tale, others will find deep meaning...isn't it wonderful that we all see something different?
I'd love to hear what you guys thought of The Fox and The Star, did you just enjoy the story or did you read more into it? Let me know in the comments below :-)
xoxo
