A girl brings her beloved stuffed fox to the playground, and a real fox makes off with it. The chase leads her and a friend deep into the woods, through a hedge archway, and into a secret village of miniature stone cottages and tiny treehouses where the animals live like neighbors.

There is not a single word in this book, and that is its magic: a child reads the whole adventure from the pictures, out loud, in their own telling, differently every time. Stephanie Graegin shifts the palette from gray tones to full glowing color as the story crosses into the animal world, so even a four year old feels the moment the ordinary becomes enchanted.

The ending, in which the girl makes a trade that fixes everything, is the kind of quiet kindness that stays with a family. A wordless book this warm turns pre-readers into storytellers, and it makes a genuinely special gift.