Excerpt from The Foxes' New Family by Geraldine Litz

One of my favorite interviews I've posted so far on With Five Questions was the interview I did with Geraldine Litz, a retired teacher, about her children's book, The Foxes' New Family, illustrated by by Beth Edmunds. The book is available in a paperback edition and as an ebook for Amazon Kindle.

It's a pleasure to welcome Geraldine back to the blog, this time to share an excerpt from her book.

For more about her work, be sure to follow her on Facebook.

In the excerpt below, Geraldine has kindly shared the first two chapters of The Foxes' New Family, as well as some illustrations from the book.

*

Chapter One

Two brown foxes stood near the edge of the trees and watched trucks come and go with furniture and people. They were not happy to see people move into the large house with the very big front and back yards. The house had been empty for a long time, and they were able to go into the yards to find water and sometimes food. No one had bothered them. Now their lives would forever be changed by the new people moving into the house.

The two foxes were feeling upset when they saw two young girls get out of a car that drove up the long driveway and stopped. The girls looked alike and were almost the same size. One had very long dark hair up in a pony tail and the other had blonde hair to her shoulders. Both were laughing and happy, running around the yard, exploring. It must have been their parents who got out of the car and watched them, smiling to each other.

"We're going to be happy here," said the woman.

"I think so, too," answered the man, as he took the woman's hand to lead her into the house.

The male of the foxes, who was a little bigger and his fur a little darker, turned to his mate. "They might be happy, but I don't think we will be anymore," he said to her.

The female fox had a sad look as she nodded in agreement. They faded into the trees, back to their den on the property adjoining the house’s yard.

Chapter Two

A few days went by and the two foxes watched the people set up their house and wander around the yards in the evening. As soon as the two girls came home from school, they would go out to play. Today the girls were running and chasing each other in the middle of the huge front yard when suddenly one stopped and pointed with delight.

"Look, Shannon! Foxes!!" The girl began to run toward the animals.

"Wait, Mary! Don't scare them!" shouted Shannon, but it was too late. The foxes disappeared back into the thick stand of trees that bordered their yard.

At supper that night, Mary and Shannon told their parents about seeing the two foxes.

"That is exciting," agreed their Dad. "But they are wild animals. Don"t try to touch them or chase after them. You could get hurt and you will frighten the foxes as well. Just leave them alone and let them continue to live their lives in the forest next door, just like they probably have always done."

"Your father is right," said their Mother. "Maybe we can watch them sometimes if we don't scare them away."

The next day Mary and Shannon watched for a sign of the foxes as they played ball in the front yard. They never saw the animals, and they were unaware that the two foxes blended into the trees and bushes, enjoying their view of the girls running and giggling.

"They seem like nice girls," the female fox said. She nuzzled her mate affectionately with her nose.

He nuzzled her back. "I think so, too," he finally agreed. "But we can't take a chance of letting them see us. You know we can’t trust humans not to hurt us or kill us, no matter how nice they look."

She sighed regretfully. "I know. And they are probably as scared of us as we are of them!"

The girls went into the house so the two foxes left to try to find some food and water, which was becoming harder to find as people moved in around them. They were competing with the deer and other wild animals.

Meet Geraldine Litz, Author

Geraldine Litz is a retired elementary teacher. She is an award-winning author and has published historical nonfiction articles in regional and national magazines. She lives in Georgia with her husband and family. She would love to hear from you via email. You can also like her author page on Facebook.

Geraldine's latest book is The Foxes' New Family, with illustrations by Beth Edmunds. Two foxes are dismayed to see a new family with young children move into a long vacant house. Their habitat borders the house's yards, and until now, they were free to roam the property looking for food. Now the foxes are afraid for their safety, but they soon learn the new family means them no harm. It is just the opposite in fact, as the people are kind to them. A tragedy strikes the foxes one night, and they learn just how kind the people really are to them. But will it take more than human kindness to save the wild animals? This book is based on a true story and is beautifully illustrated with colorful images which children will enjoy.

The book is available in a paperback edition and as an ebook for Amazon Kindle. Below is a photo of one of the real foxes who inspired the book.

1. Would you tell us about the true story that inspired your children's book, The Foxes' New Family?

My son and his family moved into a new house. Even though it is in a neighborhood, they are at the end of the street and are surrounded on three sides by woods. Two foxes began to appear in their yard. They have a gazebo, and the foxes seemed to get comfortable coming out when my son worked in it. The foxes would lie close by while he worked, so he and his family decided to put stainless steel bowls out there, one with hard dog food and one with water. The foxes took advantage of the offerings. In the fall, they were observed playing with a deer, with leaves, and eating out of the bowl in the company of a deer. I thought all of this was very neat and would make a cute children's book, especially when it is based on a true story.

2. What age of reader/listener did you have in mind when you wrote this book, and what have you heard so far from kids/parents who have read it?

I aimed it at ages 7-12, but it has turned out to be popular from pre-K through old age. Small children like to have it read to them. I visited a school and signed copies of my book. All of the elementary children loved it, and I sold many copies. Adults have read it and said it was nice to read a book without violence, etc., and all ages have enjoyed the beautiful illustrations. I have a friend who knows a lady who read it to older adults with mental and physical challenges who live in a facility together. When she finished, they said they loved it and wanted to read it again! I was so pleased to hear that they had enjoyed it!

3. What was your process like in collaborating with Beth Edmunds, the illustrator of your book?

My son introduced her to me. Beth Edmunds had always liked art, but she didn't have any training. I was willing to let her try the book illustrations, and I am glad I did. She did a fantastic job. We live in separate states, but with email, I would send her my ideas for parts of the story, and she would come up with the illustration for it. It went very smoothly. She is a young woman, and this has inspired her to get some formal training and pursue illustrating further.

4. In writing for children, how do you draw from your experience as a retired elementary school teacher?

Over 34 years, my classes and I have read hundreds of books which fed into my desire to read. I began to know which books would appeal to them. Happy stories with good endings were their favorites. There were so many books for children where the animals died in the end which made all of us cry. So we chose those books that made us feel good, and I wanted to write that type of story about animals which had a happy ending.

5. Why do you think that true stories about wild animals are so compelling to readers of all ages?

Children normally love animals of all kinds, and they enjoy learning about all of them, but especially about wild animals and their habits. Perhaps that is true because wild animals are not often readily available for us to see except in zoos. Petting zoos are so popular because of this desire to touch animals they don't see every day such as dogs and cats. This love of animals carries forth in most of us as we grow to old age.

For more about The Foxes' New Family, view the book trailer below.

Thanks, Geraldine!