Herbert the rabbit wanted to be a fox. He tried pushing his ears down and adding little ears on top of his head. He tried painting himself and he tried wearing a bushy tail. His mum couldn’t understand why Herbert was being a pain and going to all the effort to look like a fox when he is a rabbit.

A Fox Called Herbert is a young children’s book about identity and not feeling like you belong in the body you have been given and wanting to be something different. In Herbert’s case, he didn’t want to be a rabbit he wanted to be a fox.

Herbert is brave to stand up for what he believes in and I hope that this gives children an insight into the modern world where some people don’t feel comfortable in the body they have been given or being identified in a certain way and that there is nothing wrong with that. By educating children whilst they are little we will hopefully improve the world and the way some people in society are treated.

Although I must say as a parent I’m not so sure I’d have let Herbert get away with cutting up one of my dresses so easily!

This is a lovely book that is beautifully illustrated with full-page drawings and I can see it leading to further conversations about the subject.

Margaret Sturton was born and grew up in Southampton. She has always had a strong passion for children’s books. She studied Fine Art at Winchester School of Art and an MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin. She decided to retrain as an illustrator and ‘A Fox called Herbert’ was written while she was studying at Anglia Ruskin.

Margaret now lives in Winchester with her boyfriend and cat.

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