I drew this children’s story for my soon-to-be cousin (who is due in November!). It is, of course, about foxes. I thought I would share it here. After my previous stories, I think my art is still bad, but improving.
If you like this story, you might want to check out The Amateur’s Guide to Northeastern Trees, or the Backyard Bird Primer. If you’d like a pdf of this story (or the others), leave a comment or email me at firefly041300 at yahoo dot com.
Benji, the little red fox
Benji was a little red fox
One morning, he woke up bright and early
“Good morning!” said Benji’s mother, “How is my little red fox?” “I’m great!” replied Benji, “I am the reddest animal in all the forest!”
“Ha!” shouted Cardinal, “I think not!”
“My feathers are clearly redder than your fur!” cried Cardinal.
“Well…” Benji paused, “I definitely have the fluffiest tail!”
“Wrong!” protested Red Squirrel, “Mine is fluffier!”
“But I have the biggest teeth!” roared Benji. “Yipe!” said Red Squirrel.
“Bigger than mine?” asked Grey Wolf. “Yipe!” said Benji.
Grey Wolf chuckled to herself as Benji ran away.
“Ha!” said Benji triumphantly, “I am clearly the fastest in all the forest!”
“Doubt it,” said Cottontail, “Us rabbits are well known to be the fastest!”
“We’ll see about that!” shouted Benji, giving chase.
But Cottontail dove into his hole and Benji was too big!
“I am a much better jumper than any animal in the forest,” Benji declared.
“I bet no one can jump as high as me!”
“What’s this?” Benji glared at the competition.
“I’ll show you!” he shouted at Toad.
But Toad escaped and Benji stared mournfully at his reflection.
Benji was a little discouraged.
“What’s wrong, little one?” asked Benji’s mother.
“I am not reddest or fastest, I don’t have the biggest teeth, or the highest jump, or the fluffiest tail. What makes me special?”
“You may not be best at any one of those things…” said Benji’s mother.
“But you are the fastest, reddest little fox with the biggest teeth and fluffiest tail in all the forest, and I love you.”
The end!
This is great!
Thank you! Glad you like it.
This is so cute. You have a talent with your nature drawings. Love it!
Thank you! I’m so glad you like it.
Love it.! He should have called himself the most handsome!
Thank you! I love adorable foxes (obviously, haha!).
I am so taken with your illustration and story. I too draw often, but your sketches are really done well and cute too. Like all good kid’s stories, it has a valuable lesson for them.
I’m so glad you like them! They are not all as good as they could be, but I have to set definite end points on my projects or I get frustrated. Hopefully, I improve with time.
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How wonderful! The illustration with the frog leaping through the air was quite charming. Glad to have stumbled upon this! I am too working on illustrating a children’s story that I wrote, also hoping to improve with time.
So glad you like it! Are you going to post your book on your website or publish it? Thank you for stopping by.
I am not sure yet. I have been working on the illustrations for about 6 months now, and perhaps they lack a professional artist’s finesse that may inhibit its publication desirability. Such thoughts won’t inhibit any attempts to publish, though. Now, I am just enjoying trying to finish all these pages!
Did you attempt to publish it before posting it on your website?
I did not try to publish it. The world of children’s books is extremely competitive and generally they do not want you to do your own artwork. I make these books for friends and family and have more fun just giving them away! If you do put it up on your site, let me know…I would love to see it.
Ah yes, it does seem like a tangled mess that I would very much not want to get entangled in. All of which, leads me to self-publishing or not at all, but I will assess what to with this particular work when I have finished creating the best thing I can! It is my first more serious attempt at a story with pictures, and there are many more to come.
I will most definitely let you know if I do, or send you an email of the finished copy!
Whee! I am excited.