‘Fox Goes North’ is a really special book. It is Jeremy Strong’s last story, written as he navigated terminal cancer, and it pulses with the sort of energy and honesty that classics often do when they are an author’s way of grappling with an experience they themselves are facing.
Fox joins a wonderfully quirky group of friends travelling north to see the Northern Lights in their house on wheels, pulled by moose, a lovable, Eeyore-like character. Fox knows these are her last days and her animal friends care for her, whilst already anticipating their loss. She is desperate to see the aurora before she goes, so her friends make sure all their energy goes into making Fox’s dream come true. They navigate fire, a storm, and a particularly hairy river crossing on their journey to the snowlands, as well as learn how to live together and bear with one another’s idiosyncrasies and weaknesses.
The book is full of surprises and oddities; a cockney little owl, comedy beavers, a toucan whose beak will only point north, and Fox’s ability to read the future in the petals of a daisy – Jeremy Strong weaves all these characters and more together in a tale of inclusion, reminding us that life is richer for all our differences, and that friendships with people unlike us can be some of the best.
Beautiful illustrations by Heegyum Kim heighten the feel of the book as a combination of whimsy and ethereal, her gorgeous blue and white drawings are gentle and calming, capturing the story and characters to perfection.
Unusual, sad, but very, very beautiful, this has the feel of a classic – Jeremy Strong has written the definitive guide for children on saying goodbye well, in a story that celebrates friendship, home, the woods and the wild.
