Little Grey Fox

By Nikki Linfield, illustrated by Bettine Harris and edited by Robert Spottswood

“This book is from the reminiscences of Little Grey Fox, who describes it thusly:

This book is about when I had to move homes,
and change families,
and when I felt all alone,
and something felt all wrong.
Mummy Red Fox eventually made my world smaller and slowed it down for me.
She told me stories about her own experience of shame.
She found a place to be with me and hold me close, just like I needed so long ago.
It was then I found the courage to talk about it.“

Little Grey Fox writes his story about when he had to move homes and change families. This was a time when he felt all alone and something felt all wrong.

His Red Fox Family eventually made his world smaller and slowed it down for him. They offered him acceptance and empathy and spent time with him to help him feel that they were there and they helped him with his feeling of shame. Through the story Little Grey fox find the courage to talk about it.

As humans we are driven to be connected to others, AND simultaneously driven to not be hurt by others. When the people we expect to connect with make us feel hurt, our response may be to increase control of the people and environment around us, OR we may withdraw, lose our voice, and attempt quiet avoidance.

In this book about Little Grey Fox, British author Nikki Linfield illustrates how such challenging behaviours can be adaptive responses to mask the pain of feeling not-worthy, and how rejection can feel extra-frustrating to the preverbal child — so very naturally ego-cantered, at that developmental stage when ‘it must be all my fault.’

By taking the time needed to avoid oversimplification, this book does a beautiful job of capturing the complexity of developmental trauma as well as the shame that is the product of rejection and hurt.

Nikki helps the reader share in the inevitable experience (and the hoped-for repair) of the shame of not-belonging.

© Nikki Linfield, 2022

Book website: https://www.pstherapieswsm.com/little-grey-fox

Buy in the UK: Little Grey Fox – CairnsMoir Connections

Buy in Canada: Little Grey Fox – Caversham Booksellers