Fox Went Out On a Chilly Night: An Old Song

Written by Peter Spier

Narrated by Tom Chapin

Three-time Grammy winner Tom Chapin both reads and sings this timeless folk song. The book by Peter Spier provides the springboard for the familiar song, about a fox who forages for food in the village to bring to his family back in the den.

Young listeners will delight in this exceptional new recording of the popular Caldecott Honor Book.

A Live Oak Media audio production.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Live Oak Media
• Release date: Jan 1, 2006
• ISBN: 9781430109198

Reviews for Fox Went Out On a Chilly Night

[maowangvater · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This American folk song about a fox’s raid on a poultry house in town is illustrated in lush detail by Spier based on extensive sketches he made on a field trip to southern New England. The result is a lively mixture of realism and humorous fantasy. The book is filled with details of grinning foxes, startled geese, the autumn countryside in moonlight, shocks of corn drying in the field, a covered bridge, tobacco drying in barns, an old graveyard, the town square with its civil war memorial inscribed with the town’s old family names, names like like Andrews, Jones, Perkins, and Giggle Gaggle. Giggle Gaggle, a name that also appears on a tombstone in the cemetery, because old mother Giggle-Gaggle is the citizen that raise the alarm about the raid, causing the fox to get out of town fast, and home to his family feast in a den furnished remarkably like those of the town’s residents. Wonderfully detailed ink sketches in black and white alternate with vivid water-colored ones. All in all, this is a bravo production.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not a quick read! First I recommend you read the music in the back, if you know how, or at least find a video on youtube, so you know how to read the text. Then I recommend you read the text aloud, in that rhythm, singing if you can, or at least chanting.

Meanwhile, there's *lots* of detail in the pictures. Looks like someone's going to get a cutter for Christmas - see the page from the catalog on the second 'grease my chin' page, and note all the details that signify this is Autumn. Note the text on the Statue in the Town Square, and that the memorial is specifically for Civil War dead, not a generic statue. Note that the Giggle-Gaggles and all their poultry live in town (at least on the edge) - they're not actual farmers.

What is *your* favorite detail?

I do wonder about one image - I see syrup buckets hanging from some trees on an early page. But syrup is drawn in early spring, generally March. And it wouldn't be wise, I would think, to leave the buckets exposed in all weather. Do any of you know more about syruping??

I highly recommend the book. Maybe not to buy, but even if you have to beg permission to read it at the library instead of taking it home, do so. Imo, it deserved the Caldecott honor. 1962 was a very good year.

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A reissue of the beautifully illustrated folk song about a fox who goes to town and brings a goose home to his hungry kits. A Caldecott Honor Book originally published in 1961.

[sweetiegherkin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fox goes into "town" to snag some farm animals to bring home as dinner for his family. I love the song "The Fox," and although I've heard a couple of different versions before, the text Spier presents here varies ever so slightly. But it retains the overall fun and upbeat cadence of the song with its repeating lines and rhymes. My 4-year-old niece and I read the book together, then listened to a version of the song while following along in the book, matching the lyrics to the pictures. The illustrations are beautifully delicately and finely executed. There are lots of details in each picture and the colors are rich in shade and hues. However, only every other spread is colored with the others being black and white sketches. I found this a very odd choice and didn't care for it much.

[mcs018 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This (sing song ) book is very good to use for sequencing. The students will love the rhyming and sing song tone of the book.

[srssrs_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This Spier work was different in that his illustrations were paired to lyrics of an old song, so it read like a long illustrated lyrical poem. Mr. Spiers switches throughout this work between color and black and white. There doesn't seem to be a pattern, but creates a sense of pause now ans then in the story line. In the beginning of the book the fox seems to be the antagonist; attacking the town at night to steal and kill. However, after the fox has gotten his duck and arrives home, there is a stark contrast between the fox at the end of the story and the one at the beginning. The fox at the end lives in a 'den' but his den looks like a human household from an earlier part of the book. The fox prepares and feeds his young, like a human. The personification of the fox is rather cute. A happy ending, not a creature to be feared. Peter Spier's illustrations are critical to this story/song. The text could almost be deleted his illustrations are so detailed and engaging. In fact I found myself looking at the black and white pages more carefully than the color illustrations. Whatever function the black and white was supposed to serve, I feel that technique accomplishes the intended goal. A great work for an emerging reader.

[treeseed · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This Caldecott Honor Book has been a favorite in my family for about 30 years and was a frequently requested story for my four boys as they were growing up. It was illustrated in 1961 by Peter Spier and is based on a Burl Ives arrangement from 1945 of an old folk tune called "The Fox." The lyrics make up the lively text. Spier's wonderful line drawings are filled with details, plenty of action and a folksy, down-home world of a bygone era from the turn of the last century. Every other page is in full color with the rest in black and white. The drawings are so chock full of details that you will enjoy the black and white ones nearly as much as the colored ones. Small town life and a rustic farm homestead come to life in these pages as the fox goes out on a chilly night to find supper for his hungry children. The pictures are informative and interesting and funny. There is so much flavor in this book that you'll want to share it with the kids again and again. There is music at the back of the book for voice, piano and guitar so that you can sing along and teach the kids to join in. All seven verses are included. I still sing this song on road trips and every one of my grown children remembers the words. It's a treasure.