The Midnight Fox

By: Betsy Byars

Narrated by: Joshua Swanson

Tom hates having to spend the summer on a farm . . . until he discovers the midnight fox.

No one asked Tom how he felt about spending two months on his Aunt Millie’s farm. For a city boy, the farm holds countless terrors—stampeding baby lambs, boy-chasing chickens, and worst of all, loneliness. But everything changes when Tom sees the midnight fox. He can spend hours watching the graceful black fox in the woods. And when her life—and that of her cub—is in danger, Tom knows exactly what he must do.

“An exceptional book.”—Booklist

A Library of Congress Children’s Book of the Year

Critic reviews

"This book holds one of my favorite characters, city bred Tom, who is doomed to spend the summer on his uncle's farm when his parents decide to take a long bicycle trip. Tom doesn't like animals, and they don't like him. But through quiet afternoons spent exploring the forest and fields, Tom becomes more aware of, and finally more comfortable, with the power and beauty of the natural world, and in the end acts to save a part of that world."--Children's Literature

great book

this was a great short book with a compelling story and many funny bits. My kids (10 and 11 years old) enjoyed it.

beautiful textured story with authentic characters

my children age 6,8 and 10 loved it. beautiful story of a child's response to nature

Not recommended for younger readers

This book was a requirement reading for my daughter 6th grade class. I really didn’t approve of the book for a 11 year girl. There a so many great books her age level. There were so content in the book that I think are graphic when talking hunting and killing foxes. The use of dynamic to kill baby foxes. My daughter was horrified reading this book. They were some special moments in the book how the character loved the fox and her cub. But, overall I wasn’t I felt this not book meant to be used for a classroom assignment.