The Fox and the Fawn By: Daniel Derasaugh Illustrated by: Alicia Templin Dedicated with love and gratitude to: Dee Wayne, Bertha, Michael and Jessica. Each played a vital role in making this book possible.
Copyright © 2009, 2012 by Daniel Derasaugh All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
Deep within a forest, a meadow sits along a gentle hill where deer often come to graze in the early morning haze.
It was the hour before sunrise with the moon still shinning in the dark sky when fog consumed the forest. Ghostly currents swirled out from the trees and drifted over the open meadow with a pale-white glow. Two deer appeared within the mist. A doe and her fawn had come to feed on the meadow’s due-covered grass.
Anxious to play, the fawn ignored the sweet grass quivering in the breeze to chase through a swarm of glowing fireflies. His mother bowed her head to eat while the little fawn happily pranced about.
But then, he suddenly stopped. Something was in the air; a wonderful scent drifted in the mist. “Strawberries!” he thought, and quickly set off following the smell, leading him to the edge of the meadow at the base of the hill.
Here a stream flowed and across it stood the towering trees of the forest. On the bank he found a strawberry plant with a single strawberry. Large, bright and red it stood out in the haze. Quickly, he ate it with delight, and then eagerly began looking around hoping to find another.
But in the forest across the stream someone waited…
Hidden in the underbrush a stranger watched the young deer. With widened eyes the animal followed the fawn’s every move and salivated as he came closer to the stream. Just when the time was right the stranger made his move.
About the Author
About the Illustrator
Daniel Derasaugh has loved making up and
Alicia Templin has been enveloped in an artistic
writing stories since he received his first “free-write” assignment in elementary school. He has worked with elementary school kids since 2003. One of his favorite activities is telling stories to the children he works with, often making them up as he goes. The Fox and the Fawn began as one of these stories and is the first to be written down, illustrated and published.
atmosphere for her entire life. Her parents own and run an art school for children, and she has been an instructor there since 2001. In 2009 she received a Bachelor of Art degree in Painting from the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. She feels blessed to be involved in The Fox and the Fawn children's book, and looks forward to seeing how it will impact kids everywhere!
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