Adventures of Rusty & Ginger Fox

Tim Ostermeyer

Review by Molly

Tim Ostermeyer’s Adventures of Rusty & Ginger Fox is offered by a master photographer & author. 

Osage County First Grade gathered on the rug to OOOOO and Ahhhhh the cover of Tim Ostermeyer’s Adventures of Rusty & Ginger Fox.  Those ‘little kid’ fox cubs are the stars of the work, that they are just ‘little kids’ is obvious. 

As I read the account beginning when the kits were just two weeks old; Osage County First Grade leaned closer to get a better look at the brown, short nosed little ones. 

Ginger and Rusty are actually red foxes, however because they are so young their fur is brown to protect them from predators as they stay hidden in their log.

Reading through the work we discover that as Ginger and Rusty get older their fur begins to turn red, however, the pair continue to stay pretty close to the log.

As the pair become older they begin exploring further and further away from the safety of the log to places where they begin to notice other denizens of the forest.  Some of the critters they meet are benign others are not.  Deer, and wolves, cougar and bear, and bobcats too are all part of the forest where Rusty and Ginger reside.

Midway through the narrative the fox family discovers the shimmering water of a lake where they will be safe from the teeth of the bobcat.   In the middle of the lake is an island. 

Photography offered in the work is child appealing and very intriguing. 

I particularly like the sidebar notes filled with much information regarding each of the various animal species noted in the book. Geared to the interest and reading level of the young target audience, Adventures of Rusty and Ginger Fox provides a wealth of information before the Fox family swims out to the island where they discover a mysterious box.

The box is filled with treasure, both for the Fox family and for two little girls wearing white lawn dresses who come paddling in a small boat in the water of the lake.

With the help of the girls the treasure chest is opened, the treasure revealed and the narrative draws to a close.

While I as an adult found the shift from reality to impossible a bit of leap; Osage County First Grade had no problem accepting that a fox family might well discover a treasure chest on a small island.  Or that two little girls might come paddling a small boat out to that island.  Or that fox and girls might share a treasure.

Photography is exquisite, watching the progress of two tiny kits to little kid kits is marvelous as are the sidebars filled with sound information regarding a number of critters we might well see out in the wild.

The narrative hold’s child interest. Rusty and Ginger are becoming fast favorites for Little Reader DEAR time reading and for taking home to share with parents. 

Despite my own adult reservations I cannot deny that the Adventures of Rusty & Ginger Fox is a child appealing work.