About:
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner is a fictional story based on a Rocky Mountain legend. The novel was named a New York Times Outstanding Children’s Book.
- 96 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0064401324
My rating for Stone Fox— 5
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Thoughts:
I read Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner to my son during (7) for several nights as a bedtime story. I thought the story was fine and exciting – but what I thought doesn’t really matter, does it?
My boy loved the book and listened intently to the trials and tribulations of Little Willey, the protagonist. He had an easy time following the narrative and found the story gripping.
I thought it was a good introduction to the hardships young people went through in these United States and to the ones they still go through in many parts of the world. In the book, a ten year old has to basically fend for himself with the help of a few kind folks, all of them not giving him the credit he deserves for his determination.
The ending is emotional and appropriate for the targeted age group. This is a wonderful book for children to read or as a family read along.
Synopsis:
Little Willy lives on a farm in Jackson, WY with his grandfather and Searchlight, the dog. Grandfather falls ill when the taxman comes to collect money and Little Willy needs to come up with the astronomical sum of $500 to save the farm.
Little Willy entered the National Dogsled Race in town whose first place winner will receive… you guessed it.. $500. However also racing is a Native American named Stone Fox who has never lost a race.
Buy this book in paper or electronic (Kindle) format*
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer:I bought this book.
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One Comment
SPOILER: My 4th grade son was excited to read this book about sled dogs. He read the first half this morning, and thank God I had the intuition to read ahead to the end. The build up to the last few pages is chock full of positive emotions, which are ripped away from the reader by a few simple sentences of wholly gratuitous violent death. The reader is left shocked – an emotion made all the more painful by the heart-wrenching illustration on the next page – and unrelieved by any sense of fulfillment or resolve at the end. I was personally crushed by this book and am greatly relieved I’ll be able to prevent my son feeling the same.