Frost

Holly Webb's Frost is a snowy time-slip story for 7 year olds about a girl who follows a hungry fox cub out into the night.

What happens

Cassie lives in a block of flats near the Thames. Her big brother never waits for her, and her baby brother keeps Mum very tired. So one summer she makes a secret friend of her own.

It's a fox cub with a white tip on her tail, living in the brambles on the waste ground behind the flats. Cassie calls her Frost. She feeds her ginger biscuits and cheese, and leaves little piles of blackberries on dock leaves (which turns the foxes' poo purple, as Cassie finds out the hard way).

The neighbours can't stand the foxes, especially grumpy Mrs Morris next door. So Cassie has to sneak out to feed Frost, right through to a snowy December.

Then Mrs Morris tells her something amazing. Hundreds of years ago, the Thames used to freeze over, and people held fairs right out on the ice.

That night Cassie slips out in her onesie and wellies with a sausage roll for Frost. Frost leads her off through the snow. Suddenly Cassie is in a dark street of leaning houses and lanterns, holding the hand of a man who calls her sweetheart.

The Frost Fair is a treat to read about. Gingerbread, a puppet show with a dragon and a boat on wheels pulled across the ice. Her father, a printer, even prints her name on a card in the middle of the frozen river. Who wouldn't want that as a keepsake?

One thing to know for animal lovers. There's a caged bear at the fair that's going to be made to fight later, and people talk about dogs being set on ducks. Cassie thinks it's horribly cruel, and none of it is shown happening. A very tender-hearted reader might need a quick chat about how people treated animals back then.

If you've got a reader who has ever wanted a wild animal to trust them, this is a lovely one for a cold evening. Mrs Morris turns out a lot kinder than she seemed, too.

What to read next

If they'd like another winter story with a white-coated animal and a girl from long ago, try The Snow Cat. Bel's gran has just moved into a grand old house, and a booklet about it has a photo from 1860 of a girl hugging a huge white cat.