Foxlight by Katya Balen is stunningly beautiful. An intensely personal story of loss, longing and love, it takes readers into the wildlands right along with Fen and Rey as they search for who they really are. Katya Balen’s lyrical description and distinct voice ring out on every page. She writes with honesty and heart celebrating the wildness of nature and the value of sisterhood.

Fen and Rey were found at “foxlight” – that moment when quiet twilight meets the dawn. Two tiny babies, left alone in the night, they have never really known their story. Who was their mother? Why did she leave them? Where is she now?

They live at the Light House with Lissa who looks after the babies of mothers who are alone and in trouble. Her house is full of children who need a family and someone to remind them of their stories. Fen and Rey are thankful for her care but need something more. Suddenly, just imagining who there mother might be is no longer enough. They set off on the journey they were destined to make. Out in the wildlands, they discover a people who strive to rewild nature and bring the world back to life.

Foxlight is the kind of story that stays with you after you’ve finished. Readers unwrap layers of meaning as Fen and Rey learn to appreciate the gift of each other, the wildlands and finding a place where love lives.

Those who love October, October will feel at home surrounded once more by the richness of nature, the depth of feeling and the power of one girl’s voice.

A harrowing tale of orphaned twins desperately trying to imagine their mother but in the process finding their true selves & what is really important to them - their foster family & each other. A lovely twisting tale of knowing, understanding, growing & self-belief, great for anyone who wants to take a peek within & discover themselves.

Katya Balen joins my list of outstanding authors, I have loved each and every one of the books she has written. She has a unique and fresh style that appeals on many levels. Beautifully written and highly engaging storyline. Fabulous.

Fen and Rey are fostered along with several other children in a house at the very edge of the village by kind, caring Lissa. They have no idea where they came from or who their mother is, other than a charcoal drawing of a fox, so Fen has spent her life inventing stories for Rey about her. When they spot a fox at the edge of their garden, and hear handyman Marl talking about a "wilder" who protected foxes, they take it as a sign to look for her. The novel is narrated by the more volatile Fen, who feels drawn to the wild in contrast to her quieter more patient sister, whom she feels the need to protect. Their journey is a poignant and sensitive exploration of sibling love, the need to belong and to understand your origins, and of what family really is. Their quest draws our unexpected qualities and strengths in the sisters. Katya Balen's novels have emotional depth and her control of language is a joy, with a poetic quality that is a delight to read as an adult but very accessible to the target readership. This is a must for our library shelves.

I have never met a book by Katya Balen that didn't consume me and this is no different. Full of the lyrical descriptions that combine metaphor and personification to describe feelings and the natural world that makes her writing so special, this was another book where I just had to keep reading to find out the resolution.
Fen and Rey are orphans, left by their mother with a drawing of a fox to be found by Lissa who runs the light house home for abandoned children. Rey loves nature and being outside growing and studying plants and nature but Fen draws and tells stories. Both of them want to know who their mother was and where they belong so when a fox comes into the garden they are sure it is telling them to follow it. This leads them on a journey through the wild of the marshes, the forests and the mountains to different abandoned houses where they find out more about where they have come from and it leads them to find their home. Home where they have love and safety.

Katya Balen is a story writing genius. Having read her other books, I knew this would be a wonderful read...and I wasn't wrong. This is the story of two orphaned sisters who live in a home for young people but are desperate to know who they are and where they came from. All they know is that they were found with foxes. When a fox appears at the home, they take it as a sign from their mother that they need to explore the wilds to find out who they truly are. This is a story of adventure and self discovery. I loved the characters, the adventure, the descriptions of nature and the power it has, and the ending (but I won't give that away!). Definitely one to recommend to my students at school.

Over the past few years Katya Balen is the author who has given me the most reading pleasure, the most sheer unmagical magic, the magic of words and stories, the thoughts they share, the feelings they evoke. And that is real magic, the best magic.

She has already penned three breathtakingly brilliant novels, including the justly award-wining October, October. Since then, she had added two outstanding titles to the Barrington Stoke catalogue, Birdsong and Nightjar, which show just how much depth of human experience can be communicated through a simply written, accessible story. So, it was no wonder I could not resist jumping on the preview version of her new novel, Foxlight. Of course, I have already preordered a copy of the published book from an independent bookseller, but an opportunity to avoid waiting any longer was irresistible.

To say I was not disappointed is a huge understatement. The cover by Barry Falls is a thing of stunning beauty, and so is the book.

This is without doubt my children’s book of the year so far, and I think it is highly likely to remain so.

My full review is posted in my book blog website, Magic Fiction Since Potter.

A beautifully descriptive novel about sisters growing up in a home, longing to find their mother. Fen and Rey have always been told they were found curled up with foxes.
When they glimpse a fox for the first time, they set out to see if the fox will lead them to their family.
A book about love and discovery.
A really great read.

This beautiful book written by Katya Balen, the author of October October, tells the story of two girls,Fen and Rey. They were abandoned as babies and have always thought that they were found cuddled up to foxes. They weave this into stories about their mother and what will happen when they find her. One day they see a fox and taking that to be a sign they set out to follow it. The journey takes them through the wild lands where they find an empty house and a map which they think will lead them to their mother. The story follows them through the trials of their journey and what they discover at the end.
It is beautifully written and I really felt for the girls and in particular Fen. I would recommend this to 8 to 12 year olds. It is not a long book so good for fluent readers to read alone.

Fen and Rey have always been told that they were found as babies curled up with foxes then taken to an orphanage where they have lived ever since. Fen loves telling stories and is always imagining their Mother and how they will all be reunited. So when a fox visits and steals a chicken the girls see it as a sign their Mother wants them to rejoin her. Packing up food and clothes they leave one night to follow the fox who soon disappears leaving the girls to stumble on through the woods hoping for other signs. They find a cottage and in a book a map showing other houses all named after something in nature. The last house shows a picture of a fox and Fen and Rey are convinced that is where their Mother can be found. But nature can be cruel and unforgiving, and despite loving wildlife the girls find it difficult to survive.
Katya Balen’s ability to describe nature shines through again in this short novel with characters you want to give a huge reassuring cuddle to with their naïve faith their Mother is out there waiting for them.

Fen and Rey were left by their mother when they were babies and taken into the care of Lissa at the Light House on the edge of the wild lands - a home for young children ‘ abandoned’ by their parents. Fen and Rey have lived with the story that they were discovered sheltering in the warmth of a fox.
Unlike the other children, they were not provided with a keepsake or letter from their parent so have lived with a sense of uncertainty and Fen has told stories to Rey that imagine their mother and her life.
The sighting of a fox near to the house triggers the need in Ren and Fey to leave Light House and venture into the wild lands to find their mother…and so their adventure begins
This is a story about love, identity and belonging but it is also a story of the power of nature and the environment and how it can transform humans with the deep beating pulse of the landscape and the creatures within it. A story to inspire, a story that is poetic in its language and form and ultimately a story about finding who we are and accepting the good we have in our lives. Katya Balen is now certainly one of the foremost leaders in children’s fiction ; she has a depth and intensity of spirit in her stories that can make young and old reflect on life and the beauty around them. Simply magical and moving