THE FIRE FOX

A young girl experiences magical nighttime illuminations.

When winter arrives, Freya and Mum decide to stay in the log cabin that Freya’s father loved. Though it’s never stated where Dad is, Freya feels “cold and empty” now that it’s just the two of them. Taking her sledge, Freya opens the door and spies a white fox whose fur shines like moonlight. Freya follows the wondrous creature, whose paws send colored sparks flying up from the snow. Tugging the sledge’s rope, the fox pulls Freya down a slope, lights flashing from his fur, his tail sending “frosty fires” into the sky. Then, he disappears; Freya is bereft but feels a glow spreading above. Looking up, she’s dazzled by the brilliant fires filling the dark sky: the northern lights. Back home, she and Mum admire the light show. An author’s note indicates that this gentle U.K. import was inspired by a Sami myth from Finnish Lapland, which tells of “fox fires”—sparks that fly from the fur of a magical fox, resulting in the northern lights. Page’s prose sweetly captures the magic, using lovely sounds of consonance to evoke wintry crispness. Delicate mixed-media illustrations, digitally edited, suggest lightness and airiness; blues and whites dominate, reflecting the winter, but flashes of bright hues throughout conjure images of gorgeous “fox fires.” Freya and Mum present white.

A warm evocation of an extraordinary natural phenomenon.