Fox's Dream Hunt

“How foolish it is to wear oneself out in vain longing for warmth! Solitude is independence.” ― Hermann Hesse, Steppenwolf

"Never underestimate the warmth"

― Fat Night

My heart was racing when I finished reading Sergey's letter. It made me time travel back to 2018, when we first met in person - him visiting me in Warsaw for the first time after two (?) years of our online friendship. Back then he brought me another book, a comic book, with a hand written letter of a similar vibe. I still keep that letter. And now I got another one.

Наконец-то лис до тебя и добрался! Я уверен, что вы станете добрыми друзьями! :)

Fox's Dream by Keizaburo Tejima was laying on bed, Beta sniffing all over it. Just like her, it caught my attention at instant - the cover was too uncannily similar to one of my drawings. Similar colors, similar posture... Little did I know that a children's story written by a Japanese writer (with such annotation) instantly became my dream hunt:

  
Wandering through a winter forest, a lonely fox has an enchanting vision and then finds the companionship for which he has been longing.

That would be it for a book, right? Why would I be so obsessively searching for it online and offline, recruiting my friends from abroad to help me find it?

Keizaburō Tejima (手島 圭三郎) is a Japanese artist and children's picture book author. He is known for his books and their illustrations. Tejima's illustrative technique is woodblock. Here's the awards he has received for Fox's Dream:

• Fiera di Bolognia Graphic Prize (special mention), 1986

• New York Times Best Illustrated Books, 1987

• ALA Notable Book, 1987

So what the hell is so special about the Fox's Dream???

A different fox story book that got me curious

1. Illustrations - in their beauty and woodblock art mastery.

2. Story - in its simplicity and beauty.

3. In the way how I found it - diving deeper into a rabbit hole (haha) of my curiosity.

It was a UX / UI class, and the teacher randomly (?) has chosen this illustration to use in her slides. A quick search on Google has shown me this and other story books about foxes, including Fox's Dream.

You'd be surprised to know how many fox story books are out there

And here is where the chase stars. Obsessed with Fox's Dream, I started to search all possible websites, libraries and book stores - from Amazon to Japanese blogs (yes, I was googling in Japanese) hoping to find a digital copy to buy or download. I was ready to pay for it, yes! But unfortunately, the Fox's Dream could only be purchased in paperback.

Damn.

When does one give up on searching for a book? I mean, all I knew about it was a short note on Wikipedia, the cover and the author, and the fact that it must be good since it got recognition. A children's book...

I reached Mehdipedia, one of my bookworm genius friends, but he had no clue. If there was a person to help me... it must have been Sergey, I thought. The bookinist, the poet, the writer, the composer, the know-it-all when it comes to children's book.

And he knew the Fox's Dream.

But not for Sergey, who committed to help me find the Fox, I wouldn't be holding this beautiful story in my hand. Sergey felt my excitement about the story and reassured me he will do everything to find it in Lyon as soon as he get back there. I had to be patient and keep faith in him.

And one day, he sent me a photo:

The Fox was found in one of the Lyon's biggest bookstores

Moreover, turned out that thanks to the Fox's Dream purchase, Sergey could finally use one of his loyalty coupons in that specific bookstore, finally getting himself books he wanted to buy.

Everything's connected.

Weeks later, Fox Dream was already in Warsaw, but I had no idea about it.

Привет, Юля! Ты ещё не получила книжку?

Получила. Спасибо тебе, Серёжа. Ты знаешь, что книжка оказалась вкуснее чем Швейцарская молочная шоколадка (хотя я съела её целиком почти сразу, о чём я ни капли не жалею)))

Thanks to Sergey, who found, translated and sent the book over, now I can share Fox's Dream with all of you.