The Wishing Foxes

In this Appalachian version of The Kind and the Unkind Girls, two sisters--Bess and Tess--are sent by their mother to draw water from the Well-at-the-End-of-the-World. Along the way they meet a bear, a mountain lion, a wild boar, and three little foxes. When Bess greets them with courtesy and respect, the foxes reward her kindness. Tess, greedy for her own bounty, can't be bothered with manners; she bonks the animals with her bucket, kicks them with her boots, and slings the little foxes to the ground. In the end, both sisters get their just deserts. With a storyteller's cadence, Margaret Read MacDonald captures the tale's mountain rhythms, homespun wisdom, and timeless truth. Kitty Harvill's vibrant illustrations, rendered in watercolor and cut-paper collage, capture the interplay and mountain terrain that has shaped this unique version of a universal tale.