Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Miss Fox's Class Gets it Wrong
Illustrator: Anne Kennedy
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Albert Whitman & Company, 2012 ISBN: 978-0807551653
One day Office Blue Fox comes to Miss Fox’s classroom to talk to the children about safety. He tells the children how important it is to wear their helmets when they ride their bikes, to walk with “a buddy,” and to never play in the street.
A week later Young Bear sees Officer Blue Fox stop Miss Fox, who is on her bicycle. He tells his classmates and they worry that Miss Fox has broken the rules in some way. On a Saturday Frog sees Officer Blue Fox taking Miss Fox into the police station. Does this mean that she has been arrested? On Monday, Miss Fox is in her classroom as usual, and the children are relieved. Office Blue Fox must have given their teacher “another chance.”
As time goes on, the children see Miss Fox with Officer Blue Fox all over town. They cannot understand why their teacher, who believes in peace, recycling, and hard work, is getting into trouble all the time. She is a good citizen and yet she seems to be breaking the law over and over again. It makes no sense at all.
In this delightful Miss Fox picture book we see how things can get out of hand when we make conjectures when we don’t know all the facts. All too often such conjectures can lead to rumors and gossip, which can end up hurting people’s feelings. With humor and sensitivity Eileen Spinelli helps young readers to see how easy it is to make the wrong assumptions about situations and people.
