Vincent the Vixen (Truth and Tails series) ISBN: 9781785924507
Published by Jessica Kingsley, 2018
Vincent the fox loves to play with his siblings, and they do lots of things together, but Vincent’s favourite thing is dressing up, and furthermore, he loves to dress up as female characters. One day his brothers and sisters ask him why he always likes to dress up and pretend to be ladies, and he realises this is true, but doesn’t know why. It makes him sad, and he must have a think about it. He knows that his brothers are happy being boys, and his sisters like being girls, but he comes to understand that he would rather be like his sisters. This is hard to take in, and he doesn’t sleep well that night. The next morning he meets the fox cubs’ friend Betty Badger, who asks him what seems to be wrong, and he pours it all out. She is understanding and tells him a story. She, too, had been a young boy badger who had liked dressing up, and when she had finally told her family how she felt, they understood, and since then she has lived as Betty Badger and is very happy. This story cheers Vincent up tremendously, and when he gets home, he tells his family about his feelings. His parents are puzzled at first, but the more he talks and explains, the more they understand. From then on he becomes Vincent the Vixen. The illustrations are super full of life and colour but I have one ‘quibble’. On the very last page, there is the use of ‘they’ to mean Vincent’s new status as being both boy and girl. I know this is common practice now, but in a book for quite young children, it can only be confusing. It seems unnecessary in this context. Even so, this is a fine story to explain such feelings. Available from Amazon, from book shops, and from the publisher: www.jkp.com.
Age: 5+
Categories: