May 2018 Debut of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month May 2018
A wonderfully warm-hearted animal adventure based on Zeb Soanes observation of a local urban fox. Waking up hungry one evening, Gaspard sets out to find something to eat. Luckily, he quickly makes two new friends - Peter a rather cool cat and Finty a frisky dog who has dug a way out of his garden so that he can roam the streets without an owner. Helped by his new friends Gaspard secures himself a delicious meal and returns happy and FULL. The three friends and their adventure and the urban landscape of the setting are all perfectly captured in James Mayhew’s illustrations.
Meet Gaspard the Fox as he sets out one summer evening in search of adventure and something to eat. On his travels he meets Peter the cat and Finty the dog, who help him navigate the local canals, boats and people in his hunt for supper. A charming and humorous picture book celebrating urban foxes and their relationship with the humans and animals they share the city with.
First in a series of picture books following the adventures of Gaspard and his friends.
“I loved reading about the adventures of Gaspard the urban fox – surely a prince in disguise? More please.” Francesca Simon, author of the Horrid Henry Series
Author
About Zeb Soanes
Zeb Soanes is a trusted newsreader and comforting voice of the Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4. Sunday Times readers voted him their favourite male voice on UK radio. On television he launched BBC Four, where he presented the BBC Proms. He has written for The Observer, Country Life, and The Literary Review and his best-selling first book for children, Gaspard the Fox began a series of stories based on the real urban fox that visits him at home in London.
He has become ‘the go-to person for music narration, specialising in children’s concerts’ (Daily Telegraph), performing favourite orchestral works including Peter and the Wolf, Babar the Elephant and Paddington. In recognition of his efforts to culturally rehabilitate the urban fox, he was made the first patron of the Mammal Society.
Based on a real urban fox from north London. Gaspard has become a social media celebrity, with over 4K Twitter followers @GaspardTheFox, his own website, www.gaspardthefox.com, and e-newsletter, ‘Fox News’.
