Fox in a Box
Fox in a Box
by ReadRead · 5 min readLook in the red box! It is not Fox. It is a cat! A funny first book a child can read all by themself: short sounds-out words, one pattern, and a fox the reader can see but Mei can’t.
Free to read
This book is free for every family.
Start readingInside the book
Mei and Fox play hide and seek. One, two, three! Where is Fox? Is Fox in a box? Mei looks in the red box. It is not Fox, it is a cat! The blue box has a hen, and the big box has a big pig. Mei can not find Fox anywhere… but the reader can: a little yellow box keeps hopping about behind her back. Hop, hop, hop! Up pops Fox! And now it is Fox’s turn to find Mei.
The new words in this book
A wild animal like a small orange dog with a big fluffy tail. It comes up 12 times, and Fox is on the page every time: it sneaks off to hide, peeks up behind the little yellow box whenever its name is read, and pops out with a “Boo!”
A thing with sides and a lid that you can put things in. It comes up 7 times, and there is a box on the page every time: the red box, the blue box, the big box and the little box that hops.
This is a Level 2 decodable reader: almost every word is either a short-vowel word a child can sound out (fox, box, cat, hen, pig, big, not, hop, run) or one of the very first sight words (look, where, here, find, little, play, blue). 96% of the words are at that level; the few others (hide, seek, pops, now) are shown by the pictures. The two new words, fox and box, differ only in the first letter, so the child has to really look at the start of the word, and the page makes the joke: “Is it a box? Is it a fox?”
Questions to ask while you read
Pause after each spread and ask one question. There are no right answers; the point is to get your child talking.
- 1Who is playing? Can you count to three with Mei?
- 2Where could Fox be? Can you see Fox peeking?
- 3Who is in the red box? The blue box? The big box? Is the pig big or little?
- 4Mei can not find Fox. Can you? How many hops? Is it a box or a fox?
- 5Tap the box that wiggles. How many times can you find Fox?
- 6Now Fox looks for Mei. Where did Mei hide?
How hard is this book?
Every short vowel (bed, sun) and the first sight words. A decodable book: 9 words in 10 can be sounded out at this phonics step.
- Questions × 5Is it a box?
- Commands × 5Run, Mei, run!
- Not / no × 4It is not Fox.
All 32 words, most used first
fox 12 · is 12 · it 9 · a 8 · box 7 · in 5 · hop 4 · look 4 · not 4 · can 3 · the 3 · and 2 · big 2 · find 2 · run 2 · where 2 · blue · cat · hen · here · hide · little · now · one · pig · play · pops · red · seek · three · two · up
Names don’t count: the picture shows who it is.
Tips for parents
- First time: use Read to me and enjoy the jokes together. Then switch to I can read and let your child read it to you.
- Point to the first letter of fox and box. Say the words slowly, f-o-x, b-o-x, and let your child hear the difference.
- Let your child read “Look in the … box!” and name the colour from the picture.
- Play hide and seek afterwards with a real box: “Is it a box? Is it a fox?”