The Sly Becoming of Fox is Alex’s Crumbie’s fourth book. It is a short fable about a fox who begins as a kind creature, but due to the unfriendly attitudes of his fellow animals becomes increasingly sly.

The book, aimed at all ages, prompts the reader to question the potential harms of prejudging others, and sheds light on how theories can be dangerously self-fulfilling.

The book received remarkable reviews:

‘Every night I read this wonderful book to my children in the hope that it will prevent them becoming as awful as I.’ (K. T. Hopkins)

‘A fantastic fable demonstrating the importance of loving thy neighbour.’ (J. Christ)

The book has 24 pages and eight beautiful illustrations. The book itself is A6 size, handmade and printed on recycled paper using vegetable-oil based inks.

As the printing is done using a Riso printer, the most ecological form of printing around, colours are printed layer-on-layer, which in some cases can mean some misalignment. I prefer to see such misalignment not as a mistake, but as a quirky stylistic feature. Hopefully you will too.

About my books

My books are written for children, adults, and everyone in between. I believe that the best art and story-telling should have something for everyone, so I aim to incorporate important philosophical ideas and concepts into easily understood tales.

More about Riso printing…

The soya ink print process uses digital machines called Risographs. This process avoids all the worst aspects of the printing procedure. The ink is soya-based and contains none of the solvents that cause volatile organic emissions. There is no waste ink, no fixers, no wash downs, no disposable aluminium plates. The Risograph printer uses very little energy as there is no heat involved – it is a wet ink process. (This description is taken from MARC the Printers, a members-owned printing social enterprise in Manchester).