Review - Argyle Fox

Argyle Fox
by Marie Letourneau
Date: 2016
Publisher: Tanglewood
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Argyle Fox, with his signature style, wants to play outside on a springtime day, but the wind is wreaking havoc with his fun and games.

As soon as he builds a card tower, climbs into a giant spider web, or takes up his pirate sword, here comes the wind: Woosh! Mama Fox tells grumpy Argyle that if he thinks long enough, he will come up with something to do. Following his mother’s suggestion and inspired by her knitting, he works all the pieces of his day together and creates the perfect solution.

The story of Argyle teaches that failure is often a path to success and celebrates perseverance, creative thinking, and an old-fashioned springtime activity.

(see this book on Goodreads)

There were parts of this that I liked, but overall, I found it a little long.

It started out with confusion on the first page, with a declaration of identity, introducing the character of Argyle. The problem was, there were two foxes in the illustration, and I wasn't sure which was which. (It's the little one, but that was not clear on that first page.)

The real problem, though, came about as Argyle tried to find activities to do outside. He kept getting thwarted by the wind, so he'd try something else. I thought there were a few too many of these attempts, and I began to wonder if they were ever going to end!

The illustrations are probably my favourite part of the book. Unfortunately, without a strong story to go with them, they're not that memorable.

I thought I'd like this one more than I did. Argyle is cute, and he has good problem-solving skills... but I found the book just a bit too long and repetitive.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tanglewood for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.83 out of 5