Pax by Sarah Pennypacker

Quick Facts

The Book: Pax
The Author: Sara Pennypacker (aka, Clementine, The Dullards etc)
The Read Alikes: The One and Only Ivan, The War that Saved My Life
Grade Level: 3rd (high readers or as a Read Aloud) and up.


Very rarely do books leave me without words. Crying, absolutely. Gushing, definitely. Happy and at the same time a little devastated that I've finished it, you bet. But not often wordless. I spend most of my days talking about books. I jump up and down and tell kids "You are going to LOVE this one" and "oh, oh, have you read...". If you can avoid the obvious ridiculous image that comes to mind when I say it, think of me as a book cheerleader. Yes, I teach research skills and am a dab hand at shelving, I read books aloud with crazy voices (pirates, a specialty) and track down repeat overdue offenders, but mainly, I RA-RA-RA books. "What is the last book you read that you really loved" is my opening gambit when faced, a dozen times or more a day with the question "Gillian, do you have any book suggestions?" or almost as often "Oh, I don't think I want a book." I'm an ignorer of book checkout limits (I hated book checkout limits!) and possibly the loudest librarian you will ever meet. Which is a long and wordy way of saying that I'm rarely at a loss for words.

But Pax. Oh Pax.

Sara Pennypacker is a mainstay in my library. Her Clementine books have earned their place alongside the Ramonas and Frindles and Alvin Hos on my shelves. Solid, well loved, much recommended books that are a good fit for kids in that just-out-of-early-chapter-books, not-quite-to-middle-reader in between ground.  The Dullards is also a fan favorite for the younger crowd. The kid of book you read with a straight face and let the kids howl and laugh and point at while you pretend to be clueless about what's so funny. So she's great. Agreed. Funny, down to earth, totally relateable, easy to read books.

Pax though, is a something else.

Told from alternating points of view, Pax tells two stories, each reaching toward the other. Peter, the boy, is not where he should be. He is not with his fox. But after briefly bowing to the pressure from his father to leave his pet behind, he is on a mission to find his friend. Pax, alone in the wild for the first time since his boy found him as a young, motherless kit, is sure his boy will return, if he only waits long enough.

Like The One and Olny Ivan, this is, at times, a painful story. It makes you feel. A lot. A lot a lot. But as with Katherine Applegate's Newberry winner, love outweighs the sadness, and teaches you something in the process, making Pax one of those rare books that leaves you a better person for having read it.