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The Quick Brown Fox Cub
When his mother moves their family to the city, Frisk, an adventurous fox cub, gets excited about exploring and, instead of sleeping during the day when it is safe, he begins following a girl to school and learning about "magic white marks" called letters.When his mother moves their family to the city, Frisk, an adventurous fox cub, gets excited about exploring and, instead of sleeping during the day when it is safe, he begins following a girl to school and learning about "magic white marks" called letters.
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
About the author
Julia Donaldson
1,242 books1,947 followersGrowing up
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 20, 2012
The Quick Brown Fox Cub by Julia Donaldson.
Frisk the fox is a cub who wants to go against what his mum is telling him, so instead of resting in the day and exploring at night, Frisk wants to do the opposite. On one of his ventures around he meets a girl called Jenny who he follows to school and eventually learns to read whilst at the school. In one situation whilst waiting at the door for milk, he pulls out the newspaper from the letter box and displays his confidence in his new found reading skills. The book shows a situation of how moving to unfamiliar surroundings can be turned in to a positive experience by learning new things and exploring. The story is good for independent reading, especially for new readers, as the chapters break the story up and the pictures and colours still maintain the interest of the reader as it may be longer than they have been used to. This would be an excellent book for children between 6 to 8 years old.
Frisk the fox is a cub who wants to go against what his mum is telling him, so instead of resting in the day and exploring at night, Frisk wants to do the opposite. On one of his ventures around he meets a girl called Jenny who he follows to school and eventually learns to read whilst at the school. In one situation whilst waiting at the door for milk, he pulls out the newspaper from the letter box and displays his confidence in his new found reading skills. The book shows a situation of how moving to unfamiliar surroundings can be turned in to a positive experience by learning new things and exploring. The story is good for independent reading, especially for new readers, as the chapters break the story up and the pictures and colours still maintain the interest of the reader as it may be longer than they have been used to. This would be an excellent book for children between 6 to 8 years old.
April 7, 2018
A fun play on the phrase "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." In a sense, the entire book is an extended pun leading up to the moment where the fox really does jump over the dog. Mostly, it's about a fox cub who decides to start trailing a little girl to school (and who becomes famous for doing so).
October 15, 2020
A family of foxes move to the town as their mother said it would be easy to get food. Frisk one of the cubs adventures out in the daytime which is against his mother instruction as his father was killed by a hunter, Nice little story.
May 20, 2018
This book book is aimed at early readers, it is engaging and gets children thinking as they may be able to understand what the fox if doing.
The ending has a clever pun!
The ending has a clever pun!
July 27, 2012
Frisk is an inquisitive fox cub who just loves to explore during the day rather than sleeping. And when Frisk and his family move to town, Frisk cannot help but to explore. So off he sets on his adventures meeting a young girl called Jenny, her cat and dog and a 'shiny box' - tv! His inquisition leads him to Jenny's school where he learns to read and becomes an absolute hit on tv after getting his nose stuck in a can. Its an exciting tale especially as young readers will be able to relate to Frisk's playful and mischievous character.
Although its primarily aimed at 5-7 year olds who are newly fluent readers, I felt it to be just a tad bit too long. However it would be ideal for independent reading and providing curriculum support for writing short stories as part of the English subject.
A very engaging book about a quick brown fox cub.
Although its primarily aimed at 5-7 year olds who are newly fluent readers, I felt it to be just a tad bit too long. However it would be ideal for independent reading and providing curriculum support for writing short stories as part of the English subject.
A very engaging book about a quick brown fox cub.
November 21, 2016
Donaldsonin kuvitus. Tykkään siitä. Viki, joka ihmetteli kaupungin vaaroja. Eikä nukkunut päivällä vaan valvoi. Tuottaa aina lapsille iloa kun lapsi valvoo vaikka vanhemmat määrää nukkumaan. Äiti-kettu poikasineen muuttaa kaupunkiin. Isä on jäänyt maalla metsästäjän saaliiksi. Äiti on kaupungista kotoisin ja kaupungissa ketuilla on helpompaa. Tuli mieleen otsikko (oliskohan ollut Tiede lehden marraskuun nro?), jossa kerrottiin myös eläinten hakeutuvan kaupunkiin helpomman ravinnonsaannin vuoksi. Toinen juttu mikä tuli mieleen oli Seuraa hännänpäätäni -kirja. Siinäkin ketut muuttivat kaupunkiin.
June 16, 2013
This book is a whole new take on that sentence you learned in school that has all the letters of the alphabet in it -- "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." The story is gripping and will pull the child into the quick brown fox cub's adventures. Lucy Richards' illustrations are also something else, they are detailed and beautiful and another factor drawing the child in to read the story. A must-read for children 6-9!
October 9, 2012
Aikuiseen makuun jokseenkin tylsä ja sekavahko kertomus ketusta, joka muuttaa maalta kaupunkiin ja ihmettelee sen outoja asioita.
Toimii parhaiten kettuja rakastavien lapsien keskuudessa. Vinkkaus.
Toimii parhaiten kettuja rakastavien lapsien keskuudessa. Vinkkaus.
February 24, 2015
Little fox accidentally becomes famous by following Jenny to school. He even learns to read the 'marks' on the board.
A fun tale in the form of a chapter book.
A fun tale in the form of a chapter book.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews