Whatcha Readin' Wednesday? Pax

I am extremely embarrassed to admit that I got an advanced readers copy of Pax at AASL last November and I didn't read it until just recently. What is WRONG with me? Hearing Sarah Pennypacker speak at the Anderson's Children's Lit breakfast a few weeks ago made me scramble to find it and begin reading. Deep down, I may have been a teeny bit worried that it wouldn't connect with me the way it has connected with others (this may have happened to me with Hachiko Waits).
But I did not need to worry. This is a book that touches the heart and won't let go.

Pax is a fox rescued by his boy, Peter. War causes his father to force Peter to abandon Pax when Peter needs to go live with his grandfather. However, Pax and Peter are "two but not two" and they will not stay separated.  Chapters alternate between Peter's perspective and Pax's. In Pax’s chapters, the animals are not humanized, but remain realistic as the narrative describes the animals and their responses to their surroundings. Sara Pennypacker worked with a red fox expert and she commented that there isn't anything that isn't documented fox behavior and within their capabilities.

Pennypacker commented that she purposely put some of the harsher realities of war in the sections we read from Pax's point of view, to separate them a bit from us as humans.  However, she found that children are just as touched and concerned, if not more, by the implications of war on the foxes. This is a book I think everyone would benefit from reading. Pennypacker did an amazing job creating this book, and Jon Klassen's illustrations are perfect. When I heard her speak, she said that this was really a special book to create, even though all of her books are different from each other.  I'm suggesting it to be on my district list for Battle of the Books for fourth and fifth graders. I hope YOU read it and would love to hear what you think.