Argyle Fox, a picture book published by Tanglewood Publishing, begins with end papers that show a pictorial map of Argyle Fox’s forest home: Argyle’s house, Badger’s place, Knight’s castle, Beaver’s pond, Groundhog’s burrow, soccer field, and pirate’s hat (?). In the story itself, Argyle Fox, who walks upright and wears an argyle-patterned scarf around his neck, goes out to play on a windy day. All of his ideas for play are spoiled by the wind, including his pirate’s hat (aha!) that is whooshed away by a gust of “rotten wind.” Finally, after many failures, Argyle Fox finds “the most perfect thing to play in the wind.”

The pictures in this book, illustrated by the author, are lovely, colorful, and childlike. Argyle Fox is an intrepid and persistent preschooler with a lot of heart and imagination. His mother is patient, kind, and encouraging, allowing Argyle Fox to try and try again until he can figure out for himself what kind of play will work on a windy day. Argyle Fox would be a great choice for story time on the theme of wind and windy weather. Read along with:

Gilberto and the Wind by Marie Hall Ets.

Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros.

The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins.

The Storm Book by Charlotte Zolotow.

Catch the Wind: All About Kites by Gail Gibbons.

A couple of poems about wind wouldn’t go amiss for reading along with Argyle Fox either:

Who Has Seen the Wind? by Christina Rossetti.
The Wind by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Wind on the Hill by A.A. Milne.