What This Book Is About
Fen and Rey are twin sisters. They were found as babies curled up with foxes, and they grew up in a children's home on the edge of the Wildlands, knowing only that their mother left them there. When a fox appears, the sisters follow it out into the Wildlands to look for her.
Katya Balen won the 2022 Yoto Carnegie Medal for October, October. Foxlight went on to win the 2024 Wainwright Prize for Children's Writing on Nature and Conservation. The prose is lyrical and sensory, and the book rests on the pull between the two sisters as much as on the search itself.
Available at Popular bookstores, Kinokuniya, and the Singapore National Library.
Why UWC Chose This Book
Foxlight speaks to UWC's commitment to environmental stewardship. The Wildlands are a presence in the book rather than a backdrop, and for children growing up in urban Singapore, where green space is carefully managed, the story opens onto wilder, less tidy country and the animals in it. That is the ground the 2024 Wainwright Prize for Children's Writing on Nature and Conservation covers.
The sisters give the book its second subject. Fen and Rey are searching for the same mother, and the strain between them matters as much as the journey, which asks readers to hold two people in mind at once. The lyrical prose also stretches readers' literary vocabulary beyond everyday English, building the kind of descriptive language that strengthens both creative and analytical writing.
Reading Level Guide
The lyrical prose may be too challenging at A1. Try shorter nature stories like The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark first.
The sweet spot. The sensory language stretches A2 readers while the emotional depth rewards B1 readers.
A beautiful, quick read at B2. Consider Pax by Sara Pennypacker for a deeper animal-human bond story.
Other UWC Recommended Books for This Grade
Not sure if this book is right for your child? Take our free English assessment to find their CEFR level, then choose books that match.