Unlike many of his folktale counterparts, the fox that narrates Maxine Trottier’s latest picture book is no sly-talking prevaricator. Rather, this fox is a sincere creature intent on delivering a small morsel of Canadian history to young readers. The book gives a very brief history of Cape Breton’s Fortress Louisbourg, an 18th-century French fishing settlement and military/naval garrison that was destroyed by the English in 1758 and restored a few centuries later as a heritage site. Unfortunately, the narrator does not name the French or English or the indigenous people who preceded them, so readers will have to turn to the author’s note at the back of the book to discover which nations were involved. That a fox should remain oblivious to national identities seems reasonable enough, but to refrain from naming the major players in a series of battles seems to diminish the educational value of the book.

However, there is also a folkloric component to the tale, in an allusion to a local sighting of a fox and a cat dancing inside the walls of the fort at night. This image seems to capture the spirit of the book more closely than does the fort’s battle history. Trottier, the author of several historical picture books and two young adult novels, has an elegant writing style that verges on the poetic. For instance, her similes and metaphors infuse the scenes with an otherworldly quality. Regolo Ricci’s paintings (oil on canvas) enhance this quality with their skillful play of light and shadow. These double-page spreads are in the style of 18th-century landscape paintings, and the fine detail in them makes the book a pleasure to behold.