GOOD MORNING, LITTLE FOX

Janovitz’s second book about the appealing Little Fox (Little Fox, not reviewed) finds him getting up early so he and Father Fox can “sleep late” together. It’s the weekend, when “they always did things together.” Mother Fox rises to make surprise breakfast—porridge, which Father Fox isn’t sure he likes; Little Fox instantly concurs. Father, then child decide to make their own breakfast. Father Fox likes eggs; Little Fox thinks eggs are good. But there are no eggs, nor any bread for toast, nor any fruit in the bowl. Mother Fox goes out to shop, while Father Fox begins the usual Saturday morning chores, ably imitated by Little Fox—folding and fluffing (a joyous pillow toss for Little Fox), picking up and putting away (mostly the toys of Fox the Younger), and dusting (a feather-duster duel). All is delightfully presented in unframed, airy, soft-hued, colored-pencil-and-watercolor “snapshots.” Now hungry, they return hand-in-hand to the kitchen, to reconsider porridge, which now smells and looks good. “Maybe we should taste it,” says Little Fox, reversing their roles, and they both dig in. The last of the pot goes into Little Fox’s bowl, “and little Fox ate it all up,” a gentle encouragement to be open to new things. Cuddly foxes, a loving family, and an intergenerational but particularly age-appropriate conflict all make this book a good choice for group as well as one-on-one reading. (Picture book. 3-7)