Real foxes, the shy sort who peek out from the edges of fields and forests, don’t typically make quite the same stir as the famous Ylvis song they inspired. But they are beautiful, fascinating animals who’ve appeared in folklore and fables for centuries. In this list, I combine non-fiction with fiction to show the many creative ways we interpret these clever creatures.

1. Around the House the Fox Chased the Mouse by Rick Walton and Jim Bradshaw
2. Chanticleer and the Fox adapted from The Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cooney
3. Exploring the World of Foxes by Tracy C. Read
4. Watch Fantastic Mr. Fox
5. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake
6. Flossie & the Fox by Patricia C. McKissack and Rachel Isadora
7. The Fox and the Hen by Eric Battut
8. Foxes by Emilie U. Lepthien and Joan Kalbacken
9. The Fox in the Dark by Alison Green and Deborah Allwright
10. Fox Tails: Four Fables from Aesop by Amy Lowry
11. On the Trail of the Fox by Claudia Schnieper and Felix Labhardt
12. Reynard: The Story of a Fox Returned to the Wild by Alice Mills Leighner
13. The Tale of Tricky Fox by Jim Aylesworth and Barbara McClintock
14. The Tomten and the Fox by Astrid Lindgren and Harald Wiberg
15. What’s in Fox’s Sack? by Paul Galdone
16. The Wonder of Foxes by Patricia Lantier, Judy Schuler, and John F. McGee