One day in the fall of 1988, I received a phone call from Swietlan "Nick" Kraczyna, newly-appointed Artist-in-Residence at Dartmouth. He and his wife Amy Luckenbach – a master puppeteer and creator of marvelous puppets—had left their home in Florence for the year to live in Hanover while he taught a course in color etching. As long-time fans of Father Fox's Pennyrhymes, they had discovered that I lived in Hanover, looked up our phone number, and called me. This was to be the start of a deep and lasting friendship.
Long before we met, Amy had created her own version of the Fox family, remaining as faithful as possible to Wendy's illustrations, down to the last details-even searching out fabrics that matched those worn by the foxes in seen in the book. The next time they came to the States, she brought the fox family along and presented them to me.
If you have a copy of the Father Fox's Pennyrhymes, see if you can find the illustrations that inspired the garments these foxes are wearing! Which picture shows the sewing scissors sticking out of Ma Fox's pocket??