The Busy Fox |A Kid’s Book About Forest Bathing

Wait. Did that say “forest bathing“?

Yes. Forest bathing. It’s a thing.

This month on The Book Badger Blog, we are going to take a look at books that support and inspire children’s mental health. Each week will focus on a different book that introduces concepts of mindfulness and emotional awareness to kids. 

This week’s picture book of the week, “The Busy Fox” by Isaac Madge is a bright and colorful introduction to the mindfulness concept of forest bathing.

What exactly is forest bathing? 

Well, it doesn’t really have anything to do with a bath, if that’s what you are thinking. It’s actually just about being in nature and taking time out of our busy lives to reconnect with our organic surroundings. “Forest Bathing”, or “Forest Therapy”, is a mindfulness practice that originated in Japan. You can read more about it here.

Why talk to kids about Forest Bathing?

Sometimes we push aside teaching kids about mindfulness practices, like forest bathing, because we label as being for adults. We mistakenly believe that kids are not capable of comprehending mindfulness or practicing stillness. We sometimes even write off their stress level as minor compared to our own.

But kids need to reconnect with nature too.

And it isn’t just getting sun or fresh air. They need to dig in the dirt, roll down grassy hills, jump in leaves. Forest bathing can be therapeutic no matter what age you are. 

And this weeks book is the perfect introduction to this concept. 

“The Busy Fox” by Isaac Madge  is the story of a fox stuck in the city. 

Clearly, the poor guy doesn’t belong there. Everything moves too fast for him, he gets his tail stepped on, and the place just drags him down. Until he takes a vacation to the forest. 

What We Love About “The Busy Fox”

The Illustrations

Elisabeth Karin’s illustrations are superb and of the highest quality. The textures and colors are eye catching and the fox’s feelings come through on every page. From the dark and dingy city to the bright and welcoming forest, the illustrations in this picture book are spot on. The colors and textures tell the story just as much as the words, which is the mark of a great children’s book.

The Pacing

The pacing of the writing in the story is perfect for talking about mindfulness. Each of the fox’s five senses is explored on its own page. Careful time is taken to mention each of the fox’s senses and how they are affected in each environment. It’s clear that Madge put thought into how the story should be paced, focusing on the overall impact of both stress and nature on the body one sense at a time. 

We had a chance to speak with Isaac Madge about his book, “The Busy Fox”. 

Here is what he had to say:

In the back of your book you mention forest bathing, a practice popularized in Japan. Have you ever done any forest bathing yourself?

Forest bathing is something that I started practicing a number of years ago. I had always known I loved nature and being around it, but I never questioned why that was. 

However, when I moved to London for work, I noticed a dramatic drop in my mood and overall mental health. In the beginning I put it down to stress and being over worked and it wasn’t until I read a book called ‘Nature Fix’ by Florence Williams, that I began to understand why my surroundings may have had something to do with the way I was feeling. Where I grew up was very green and peaceful, but in the city I felt like I was completely starved of this. Although I loved London and exploring the city, I knew that I needed to find ways to re-engage with nature any way I could. That meant eating lunch in parks, going to local forests and doing park runs. 

I think a lot of people think forest bathing needs to be this big move into the wild, but I found out that even a little break in nature a few times a week will do the world of good. It really is something anyone can do if you can spare a little time out of your week.

In your book, the fox chooses to stay in the wild, rather than return to the stress of the city. Do you feel we are meant to live in the hectic urban world or do we truly belong in nature?

I think there will always be an inherent urge for humans to engage with nature. It’s only really in the last hundred years that we have become predominantly urbanized and we are only recently beginning to research the effects of this on our well being. 

I’m definitely not saying that everyone should move out of the city, but I definitely feel there is more that we could be doing to make cities more nature centered. This could have a really positive effect on our mental health, but also help to keep cities cleaner (air pollution) and streets calmer. 

The decision for Fox to remain in the wild, is a sort of metaphor for embracing nature and not letting go of it. Maybe in a future book, he might return to the city and re-wild his old stomping ground. Could be fun!

The illustrations in your book seem uniquely suited to the story. Tell us more about how and why you chose this illustrator and style for the book. 

I chose Elisabeth to do the illustrations as I really loved her work and more importantly the textures and colors which she used. This was so important for the book as I wanted the forest to be in stark contrast to the city. 

When you read the book, you’ll notice it goes from very grey and monotone to bright, vibrant and full of texture and there was a really important reason for this. It’s proven that even images of nature and forests can have a positive effects on humans, so we really wanted to try and recreate this in the book. So even by simply reading the story and enjoying the illustrations, it may help encourage an element of calm on the reader.

What do you hope children in particular can take away from this book?

I hope children take away the importance of nature in our lives. We talk a lot about how we need to take care of nature, but we also need to be reminded ourselves that nature takes care of us and can improve our quality of living. It may not be the answer to all our problems, but it can certainly be a great source of therapy and something I regularly use to help improve my mental health.

Why a fox? What drove you to choose a fox as a main character, rather than a different animal or a human character? 

I chose a fox as the main character because I thought he fit the perfect brief of a wild animal who has been urbanized over the years. The inspiration came while I was walking home in London and saw a little cub wandering through the streets. It felt so out of place but normal at the same time. 

Also for me, Fox felt more neutral as a character that would appeal to both boys and girls. Plus children seem to have a fascination with animals and love furry creatures, so it was a no brainer really.

Well, we are certainly glad Isaac Madge chose a fox for the main character in his book. “The Busy Fox” really is a winner in our book. And we have a lot of books.

When he isn’t writing books for children, Issaac Madge is a photographer and film maker. To find out more about Isaac, you can follow him on Instagram or visit his website.

BUY Your Copy of “The Busy Fox” HERE.