Silliness, adventure, friendship, and all sorts of unexpected mishaps and moments create tons of ridiculous humor with animals to root for.

Ted and Nancy are sibling foxes, who lived in the city until a very obnoxious Princess Buttons (spoiled-to-the-max-cat) forces them to move to the Grimwood forest and stay out of her sight. Luckily, the great outdoors isn't quite as grim as its name. Although they're off to a rough start, have tons to discover, and are still running from a ridiculous cat, Ted and Nancy are in for all sorts of excitement...in the most unexpected ways.

While this is a book with all sorts of animals, it is by no means a book just for animal fans. There is snappy dialogue, hilarious back-and-forths, edge-of-the-seat tension, and even heart. It's wacky and yet, holds so much more as Ted and Nancy have to deal with all sorts of situations around them, while also battling usual sibling problems. The other creatures add everything from help to irritation to threatening moments, and each of these has a very distinct personality, which pops off the page. And that with a guarantee of constant laughs and snorts.

The illustrations add to the humor and are sprinkled in generously. While the first pages had me wondering if it will be carried by illustrations, this is a true chapter book with tons of visual fun. The text sticks at a reading level, which requires a surety of words and strengthens vocabulary here and there. It's a read to enjoy and launches off the series in the right way. I received a complimentary copy and was surprised by how much adventure accompanies the humor. ( )

I like foxes, I like children's books, I was hoping this one would be a winner.

But I am much too old to be the target demographic, and the humour fell flat for me. It is very silly, and so you really need to be in it for the humour and not for the charactorisation or plot. The foxes are just not very foxy. They have mobile phones and talent shows, and I'm all for a bit of suspension of disbelief, but Grimwood seems both to be a place where foxes and rabbits can be friends with each other and put on a play together and a place where named characters who are mice can be casually eaten by an eagle.

Also, I thought the charactorisation of the Bad Guy was lazy, and used a lot of 'anything femme is bad', with being called 'princess' and not liking mud and liking satin sheets. The story is that she's bad because she doesn't like sharing nicely with the foxes, but actually the set up as presented is only the foxes can eat from the blue bin, and cats have to eat from the green bin, it is definitely uncomfortably 'seperate but equal' and I like less apartheid in my children's books.

Anyway, I am clearly a bit too humourless and overthinking and woke for this book, and I hope it finds many readers who enjoy it more than I do! ( )