Pax

Pax is a heartwarming Children’s book by Sara Pennypacker showcasing the friendship between a young boy named Peter and his Fox, Pax. Pax is illustrated by Jon Klassen and was on the National Book Award Longlist. Sara Pennypacker has published 19 books, including Pax (2016), Summer of the Gypsy Moths, as well as the bestselling Clementine and Stuart series.

Plot Summary

In Pax, war brews at an unknown time in an unknown place, and Peter’s father forces him to leave his beloved pet fox along the side of the road. Devastated by the loss of his fox, Pax, Peter attempts the impossible; he decides to embark on an almost 300-mile quest to return to the spot along the side of the road where he believes Pax will still be waiting. His plan falters when he falls in the woods and breaks his leg. Lost in the darkness, he takes refuge for the night in a small cabin.

The next day, Peter wakes to a woman with a wooden leg standing over him, demanding to know who he is. Her name is Vola. He tells her about his leg and about Pax—Vola, as it turns out, was once a medic. She tells Peter she’ll help set the wound and then send him back home to his grandfather. Peter refuses to go, saying it’s his solemn duty to rescue Pax. He asks Vola to help him gain the strength to start out again on the adventure. She agrees.

In the meantime, Pax befriends several foxes in the wild, including Gray, the head male in the area, and Bristle, the young vixen who is fiercely protective of her younger brother, Runt. Gray travels south with Pax to help him find his humans, but Gray steps on a landmine and dies. Pax returns to the other foxes to bear the sad news: War is coming to their land, and the humans have made the woods unsafe.

Peter spends two weeks with Vola and finally embarks to find his beloved fox. Vola helps him find a bus that shaves 250 miles off his journey. Peter and Pax reunite just as Pax attempts to rescue Runt and Bristle from two coyotes; Peter helps. After seeing the love that the foxes have for each other, Peter encourages Pax to live in the wild with his new family.