New children’s book: ‘On The Verde River’

A new children’s book titled “On The Verde River”, funded by a grant from the Gerald Rosenbluth Foundation, celebrates one of Arizona’s longest free-flowing rivers. The Friends of the Verde River are giving a copy of the book to all the elementary schools and public libraries in the Verde Valley.

Also, The 2024 Great Reads from Great Places books placed “On The Verde River” on their list. The book this August is going to appear at the Library of Congress National Book Festival at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

Phoebe Fox, author and owner of Mamafox Books, and Jim Fox, a former player for the Phoenix Suns and the illustrator of “On The Verde River,” joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss more about their new children’s book.

“On The Verde River” takes you through a journey of different parts of the river including the wildlife and the beauty of being outdoors. This book is designed for kids aged 8 and under. However, the back of the book has some interesting facts that adults enjoy learning about. 

“’On The Verde River’ takes you through a day and introduces you to animals and plants and trees and different things that you can experience on the Verde River. There are rabbits hopping and otters splashing and a little family who’s come to visit and spend the day and watch the stars come out,” said Phoebe Fox. 

It was a wonderful experience for Jim to be able to collaborate with Phoebe and other people. The hard work and the overall quality of the book paid off in the end. 

“We’ve collaborated before with some children’s books that she has written and that I have illustrated, so this was pretty special, and the people that have put it together obviously did a great job. I mean the cover, the quality of the paging is pretty spectacular,” said Jim Fox.