Stevie‘s review of The Last Firefox by Lee Newbery (Author) and Laura Catalan (Illustrator)
Contemporary Middle Grade Fantasy published by Puffin 03 Mar 22
I love when kids books use fantastical situations as a metaphor for the circumstances lots of ordinary children might find themselves in. Charlie Challinor lives in a small Welsh town with his two Dads, and is excited about the prospect of them adopting a second child, but also apprehensive. He is being bullied by two boys at school and is scared of lots of other things too. How can he learn to be brave enough to protect a younger sibling?
Charlie has his two best friends, Roo (short for Rupert) and Lippy (short for Philippa) to support him, though, and it’s while he’s playing a game with them that his big adventure begins. A boy appears from a fantastical world beyond the walls of the castle that the three friends are visiting and entrusts Charlie with a magical fox cub. The cub is able to burst into flames but remain unharmed at moments of great excitement. Because of its rarity, adults from his world have sent a monster to hunt it down and return it to them as a zoo exhibit. Charlie agrees with the stranger that this would be no life for a wild creature and promises to look after it for a few days until the monster is vanquished.
Caring for a highly flammable fox cub while attending school, and keeping it secret from everyone, including his fathers, is not as easy as Charlie expected, even with help from his friends, especially when the monster gets closer and is able to disguise itself as a human. Then there are school sporting events, shopping trips, and a charity fête – at which Lippy has a stall – to negotiate, not to mention the bullies, who haven’t given up on tormenting him. In the course of the adventure, Charlie learns the bullies have fears and weaknesses of their own, while he himself, as well as his friends, possesses strength and courage he had never realised before.
Charlie and his friends are resourceful and find a variety of ways of preventing the adults – and the monster – from spotting their new pet, even as the cub – renamed Cadno, from the Welsh word for Fox – causes chaos and sets fire to things at random. When the final showdown with the monster takes place, they find innovative ways to defeat it and learn even more about themselves in the process.
I loved this book. The pictures are beautifully detailed and all the kids feel totally real. I liked the small references to contemporary games and situations – like the pebble game – without the book dwelling so much on the last two years that it will become dated too quickly. I’m looking forward to reading more from the author and shall look out for others illustrated by the same artist too.
Grade: A
Summary:
A heartwarming story about family, friendship and finding your inner fire.
Between bullies at school and changes at home, Charlie Challinor finds life a bit scary. And when he’s made guardian of a furry fox cub called Cadno, things get a whole lot scarier.
Because Cadno isn’t just any fox: he’s a firefox – the only one of his kind – and a sinister hunter from another world is on his trail.
Swept up into an unexpected adventure to protect his flammable friend, Charlie’s going to need to find the bravery he never thought he had, if he’s going to save the last firefox…
Read an excerpt.
