I wasn’t looking for it. I was just doing what I always do when I pass a Little Free Library — stopping "for a quick peek.” But there it was: a slim paperback with a fox on the cover, tucked between a few mysteries and an old cookbook. The pages were yellowed and soft from time, the kind of worn-in book that feels like it’s already been loved by someone else. The Midnight Fox by Betsy Byars.
I’ll be honest, I hadn’t heard of Byars before, but a quick look told me she’d written more than sixty children’s books — several award-winners — and that this one, The Midnight Fox, was her personal favorite. Somehow that made it feel even more special, because I’d stumbled on a story that mattered deeply to the author herself.
I took it back to my classroom the next day. The kids and I had just finished the novel we’d been reading, and one of my six-year-olds was asking for more “boy books.” What could be more boy than a kid spending the summer on a farm, sneaking through the woods, and discovering a wild fox? Even so, I had no idea that this tattered old book from 1968 would end up being the kids’ favorite book of the year.
Into the Pages
Tom is a thoughtful, observant boy who isn’t exactly thrilled about spending the summer away from home. He’s sent to stay with Aunt Millie and Uncle Fred on their farm, and at first, the country feels strange and a little slow. Tom is more of an indoors kind of kid — he loves building models and tinkering quietly — so the farm is a big adjustment.
Then he notices her: a sleek, black fox moving through the woods. She’s mysterious and quick, and Tom can’t help but be fascinated. But the fox isn’t just a quiet presence in the woods — she starts raiding Aunt Millie’s chickens, and suddenly what seemed magical becomes... complicated. Uncle Fred sets out to “take care of the fox,” and Tom faces some difficult choices. How does he protect the animal he’s come to care for while respecting the farm and the family he’s staying with?
The small country farm and surrounding woods provide the backdrop for these small adventures and ethical dilemmas. Aunt Millie and Uncle Fred show steady kindness and guide Tom as he navigates a few of life's tricky lessons. Through it all, Tom’s curiosity, bravery, and gentle care for the fox help him grow in ways he never expected.
By the end of the summer, Tom has learned courage and a deeper connection to the natural world — all inspired by a little black fox who challenged him, and by the quiet, steady love of the family who welcomed him in.
The Librarian's Thoughts
The Midnight Fox is one of those stories that lingers. It quietly nudges readers to notice the little things — the rustle of the woods, the way someone cares for another, the lessons you learn when you slow down and pay attention. Tom’s journey shows us curiosity, patience, and empathy in action, and it’s hard not to catch a bit of that spirit yourself as you read.
Content note: There’s a brief subplot with Tom’s cousin, Hazeline, who struggles with body image and experiences difficulties when her boyfriend makes unkind comments about her size. While this isn’t central to the main story, it could be sensitive for some readers. Parents and educators may want to be aware of this content and guide younger readers accordingly. Personally, when I read it aloud in class, I just skipped a few sentences to keep the focus on the main story, and that worked perfectly.
Overall, this book is wonderful for upper elementary and middle school independent readers, and it also works beautifully as a read-aloud for all ages — whether you’re sharing it in a classroom, at home, or simply reading for yourself to rediscover a little of your own childhood.
Sometimes the best stories are the ones that slip quietly into our hearts, and this little black fox is exactly that kind of story. That’s all for now. Take care, stay curious, and I’ll see you next time. 🌿
I’ll admit it: the title alone sold me. Surrounded by Idiots! It might sound a little indelicate at first, but it’s also incredibly intriguing. Who hasn’t walked away from a baffling conversation thinking, “Why are people like this?!” Well, in his book, Thomas Erikson promises to explain exactly that…
I’ve definitely had moments where I completely misread someone’s reaction — thinking I was clear, only to later realize we were on completely different wavelengths. So naturally, I had to see if Erikson could really deliver.
This book is all about why people act the way they do, and it’s made simple with four personality colors.
Red people are bold, action-oriented, and love results.
Yellow people are enthusiastic, chatty, and full of ideas.
Green people are calm, steady, and hate conflict.
And Blue people are precise, analytical, and perfectionists.
Erikson fills the pages with relatable examples that make you nod, laugh, and start noticing these colors everywhere — in your coworkers, your friends, and even in yourself. If you’ve ever done a DISC assessment, some of this might feel familiar, but Erikson makes it far more approachable and story-driven.
One of the best things about this book is how easy the framework is to remember. The color system just sticks in your brain, and before you know it, you’re spotting Reds and Blues everywhere you go. Erikson also makes the book really fun to read. It’s not a dry personality test — his stories are playful, relatable, and often hilarious.
Best Moments
Now, I should mention that I read the revised and expanded edition, translated from the original Swedish, and the final two chapters added in this edition are absolute gold.
The next-to-last chapter is full of real interviews with people representing each color, sharing their reactions to the book. It’s hilarious not just because of what they said, but how they said it — the Yellows were long-winded, the Blues dissected every single word, and so on.
Then, the final chapter tells the story of an experiment Erikson ran at a workshop. He grouped people by color and asked them to solve a problem. Reds clashed, Yellows never stopped talking, Greens stalled out, and Blues over-analyzed every little detail. It was a complete disaster — but in the best way. Erikson's tale perfectly shows why teams made up of different personalities are so much stronger than groups where everyone thinks the same way.
Further Reflections
As much as I loved this book, it’s not perfect. First, people are rarely just one color, so it can feel a little over-simplified at times. Some of the descriptions are a bit stereotypical or exaggerated — though usually that’s for humor, and it mostly works.
It’s also not super scientific. Think of it more as a practical guide for communicating with different personalities, not a peer-reviewed psychology text. That said, Erikson does include a list of further reading at the back. I’ve read a few of them and they were excellent, and the rest look amazing, so I'm looking forward to reading those too.
Finally, there are a few grammatical errors here and there, but honestly, I’ll forgive them since this is a translation and not originally written in English.
New Languages?
One of the biggest takeaways for me is that adaptability is a superpower. And just to be clear — this doesn’t mean acting fake or changing who you are. Think of it like being multilingual: if someone speaks French or Swahili and doesn’t speak English, you’d switch to their language to communicate. It’s the same with personality colors. Once you understand someone’s “color,” you can meet them where they are, and it makes a huge difference in how people respond to you.
Here are a few quick tips:
With Reds, get straight to the point and focus on results.
Yellows love enthusiasm and stories, so let them share ideas and celebrate their energy.
Greens value patience and reassurance, so take your time and avoid pushing them too hard.
And Blues appreciate detail and accuracy, so be thorough and organized when presenting information.
Another big takeaway is that self-awareness leads to smoother relationships. Understanding my own mix of colors helped me make sense of my biggest pet peeves and why I sometimes get caught up in misunderstandings.
And lastly, diversity isn’t optional. The final chapter drove home that a team made up of only one type of personality is basically asking for disaster. But a team with a mix of colors? That’s where the magic really happens.
Is Surrounded By Idiots for you?
This book is great for anyone who works with people — on teams, in meetings, or even at home. It’s perfect if you often feel misunderstood — or sometimes think everyone around you is a little “different.” And honestly, it’s fun for families. My husband and I cracked up reading passages that perfectly captured our strengths and weaknesses.
If you’ve ever wished people came with an instruction manual, or if you just like personality tools like Enneagram or Myers-Briggs but want something fast, practical, and entertaining, this one’s for you.
You can grab your own copy of Surround By Idiots! here, if you’d like to read along. But before we go, I’d love for you to guess your color in the comments! That’s all for now. Take care, stay curious, and I’ll see you next time. 🌿
Just recently, my students and I went on a Kate DiCamillo deep dive — seven books in a row.
We laughed, we teared up, and we had some incredible conversations along the way. So today, I want to give you a quick peek at each book and then share both my top three favorites as well as my students’.
We didn’t always agree — which made it even more fun — but one book definitely stole all our hearts."
*A Quick note before we dive in: as a set, these books occasionally include mild profanity or mature themes. Nothing over the top, but I’d recommend them mostly for upper elementary and older, or as read-alouds where you can pause and talk through things (or swap out a few words) with younger kids.
The Beatrice Prophecy
If you’re only going to read one of these, make it this one. The Beatrice Prophecy is set in a medieval kingdom where a mysterious girl shows up at a monastery with no memory of who she is — only a prophecy that she will save the kingdom.
It has outlaws, danger, a very stubborn goat named Answelica (who just might be my favorite character of the whole collection), and a beautiful journey about courage and discovering who you really are. This one was hands-down the favorite — for the kids and me.
The Tale of Despereaux
Despereaux, the little mouse with a big heart, is tiny and considered odd by all the other mice. He loves music, stories, and a certain princess. When tragedy strikes, he becomes the unlikeliest hero and goes on a quest to bring light into a very dark place.
This book is whimsical, heartfelt, and surprisingly deep — I was rooting for Despereaux the whole way through. The Tale of Despereauxa book that reminds kids (and adults) that bravery doesn’t mean you’re not scared — it means you keep going anyway.
Because of Winn-Dixie
This is probably Kate DiCamillo’s most well-known book — and it still holds up. It’s the story of Opal, a girl who adopts a stray dog one summer. Through that scruffy dog, she makes friends all over town and starts to understand her own family story.
I loved Because of Winn-Dixie as a kid, but as an adult, I connected to Opal on a much deeper level — especially the way she processes her feelings about her mom and dad. This one is funny, tender, and just feels like summer in a book.
Flora & Ulysses This one had us laughing out loud. Flora is a self-proclaimed cynic who witnesses a squirrel get sucked into a vacuum cleaner — and come out with superpowers. What follows is an adventure full of comic panels, ridiculous moments, and some surprisingly heartfelt reflections about love and hope.
I do want to mention — Flora can be pretty sharp with her mom and other adults. And honestly, that gave me pause at first, because I don’t want that kind of behavior to be celebrated or modeled as an acceptable way to speak to grown-ups.
So we used those moments to stop and talk about why might Flora be acting that way… and chatted through better ways for her to express her feelings. It ended up being a great lesson (for all of us) about how to communicate frustration in a way that’s still respectful.
And you know what? Those conversations didn’t slow us down — they actually made Flora & Ulyssesmore meaningful, because instead of laughing at her sass, we were learning from it.
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Edward is a porcelain rabbit — who is beautiful, but also selfish. When he gets lost, he ends up going on this long, heartbreaking journey, passed from owner to owner, and eventually learns to love along the way.
This one is bittersweet and made for some quiet, thoughtful discussions. Some of my kids loved The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane — others thought it was a little too sad. But that’s the beauty of a read-aloud: it invites kids to sit with big feelings and talk about them together.
The Tiger Rising
This is a short book, but wow — it’s heavy. Rob, the main character, finds a caged tiger in the woods, and the tiger ends up symbolizing all the emotions he’s been keeping bottled up since his mom died.
For me, The Tiger Rising was one of the tougher reads — not because it isn’t good, but because it deals so directly with grief and anger. But my kids surprised me by really loving it. It gave us space to talk about how important it is to let ourselves feel and express emotions instead of bottling them up.
The Magician’s Elephant This one felt like a fairytale. A fortune teller tells a boy that an elephant will lead him to his long-lost sister — and, sure enough, an elephant mysteriously appears during a magic trick gone wrong.
The Magician's Elephantis quiet, whimsical, and full of hope, though it didn’t grab my students quite as much as some of the others. But if you love lyrical writing and gentle, magical stories, this one might be perfect for you.
Okay, now for the fun part — the favorites lists!
My top three picks:
The Beatrice Prophecy — This was by FAR my favorite.
The Tale of Despereaux —Y’all, I completely fell in love with that little mouse.
Because of Winn-Dixie — I was surprised by how much harder Opal’s story hit as an adult than it ever did when I was a kid.
My students’ top three picks:
The Beatrice Prophecy — We all agreed this was #1.
Flora & Ulysses — They loved the humor and comic-book style.
Number 3 was a tie between Edward Tulane and The Tiger Rising — which made me laugh because those were my two least favorites! But that’s the magic of reading with a group — every book hits differently depending on where your heart is.
I think that’s one of the reasons Kate DiCamillo’s work is special. Her books aren’t just stories — they’re springboards for conversations about courage, forgiveness, grief, and kindness.
So if you’ve read any of these, I’d love to know which ones were your favorites. Or if you’re just getting started, tell me which one you’re picking up first! That’s all for now. Take care, stay curious, and I’ll see you next time! 🌿
