PAX

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years go. The second best time is now.”

—Proverb

Pax, the acclaimed children's novel by Sara Pennypacker, has been on my radar for some time now. It might be because Jon Klassen does the illustrations, and anything he touches is bound to mean treasure. If you haven't heard his Caldecott acceptance speech for This is Not My Hat, I highly recommend it (and, as Klassen noted in his BGHB Picture Book Award acceptance speech for Extra Yarn less than a year earlier, "Illustrators are notoriously good at giving speeches. When they decide to get into illustration, it is secretly because they know how good they are at public speaking, and they can’t wait until the day when they win an award so they can finally show a room full of literary people how great they are at it..." —I thought this was hilarious). Those are only the illustrations, of course; I haven't even talked about the book yet! The chapters alternate between Pax (the fox) and Peter (his boy), who have been separated early on in the story; there is a little silhouette of either a fox or a boy at the beginning of each one. Full of wit and wisdom, I'm glad I gave into the inkling that it was time to read this book.

I knew the name Pax means 'peace', but Pennypacker did not disappoint when it came to working this idea into the story thematically, both overtly (in stark contrast to the coming war), and in gentler strokes (as in the character Vola's, everyday, living understanding of the word):

"I have more than everything I need." Vola sat. "I have peace here."

"Because it's so quiet?"

No. Because I am exactly where I should be, doing exactly what I should be doing. That is peace."

This is also described (in more detail) in terms of the converse effects of not having been where one should have been, of not having done what one should have done, when they had the chance. I wouldn't have noticed, perhaps, if I hadn't read them one after the other in quick succession, but this same theme crops up in the Newbery Honor Book, The Hundred Dresses with striking similarity. Both Peter and Maddie imagine themselves doing what they wish they had done, imagine themselves coming to someone else's defense when they hadn't:

Once again: “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years go. The second best time is now.” (This was one of author Gretchen Rubin's recent 'A Little Happier' podcasts, and you can listen to it here).

I would happily suggest Pax to anyone, especially slightly older children, but this is one of those books that adults are sure to enjoy as well. As C. S. Lewis famously advised, “A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.” It has to be a good story, in other words—there has to be something special about it, and Pax is full of little gold nuggets that nourish, and intrigue, and ask. I even like the little part that Pennypacker puts in the beginning, tucked away so inconspicuously on an early page that you might easily miss it at first (as I did): "Fox communication is a complex system of vocalization, gesture, scent, and expression. The "dialogue" in italics in Pax's chapters attempts to translate their eloquent language." I thought that this was clever, and enjoyed the idea that I was, in fact, only reading an approximated translation of fox language (I'm especially fond of a book, written for adults, called The Dictionary of Animal Languages).

Holds can be placed for both Pax and The Hundred Dresses through Essa Public Library, and The Hundred Dresses is available right now via the Internet Archive.

Also, here is a short trailer for Pax

(I stumbled upon it as I was making this and thought it was nice enough to share):

Wishing everyone peace, prosperity, and happy reading.

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—Victoria Murgante