Another lovely book by Roald Dahl, with the always beautiful illustrations by Quentin Blake.

OK, so...confession time. I have NEVER read this book before. I have watched the movie, but haven't read the book. I was very surprised to find that one almost has nothing to do with the other!

This book was absolutely fantastic. I loved it. I loved the idea behind it, the execution, I loved the sneakiness and cleverness of Mr. Fox, who is indeed fantastic. I loved the teamwork and the involvement of the other animals (the badgers and the rabbits), and I loved how they found their way around their predicament.

It was short and sweet, with the perfect blend of adventure, fun and humor!

For once Dahl decides not to torture children.

Roald Dahl at his best - an oft overlooked story (at least until the film adaptation) this is lots of fun. A great story by Dahl with the usual wonderful accompanying illustrations by Quentin Blake.

Not to be missed.

The book was fine, but not Mr. Dahl's best work.
The whole plot could be summarized in two to three sentences - if that could be called a plot at all.
In short, it is a quick read, and nothing much happens. Children might like it, though.

Substitute (ersatz) childhood read.

Mr. Fox steals food nightly from one of the three disgusting and gluttonous farmers who have more then they need. The farmers get mad and set out to kill Mr. Fox. They have a hard time catching him, they destroy the earth trying to get him out of his hole, they waste many man-hours by making their workers surround the woods with weapons and ultimately Mr. Fox with the help of other underground animals find another way into the farms and go about their stealing in peace while the farmers sit endlessly waiting to kill the fox and any other animals that pop up from the ground.

This book teaches you that stealing is ok, as long as it is done against evil and wicked people. That's a fine message and one that kids probably won't be exposed to for the first time by reading this book. Basically Robin Hood is that message too, although this seems a little bit more anarchic in it's presentation, maybe it's the drawings, or all the fun the fox has in stealing that makes it seem like a revolution going on that you can dance to.

But is it ok to tell kids that stealing is alright? Yes it is. Children will be taught eventually in school that stealing is perfectly fine, but they will be taught it under the more civilized and devastating guise of capitalism, the rights of corporations over people and the other legalized theft that our society holds up as the makings of success. But am I saying that kids should go out and steal? No they shouldn't. First because most of them are really bad at it and if you are bad at stealing you will get caught, or at least noticed and that's not a good thing. Second because stealing for the sake of stealing isn't good. Stealing can be political and it can be used as a very very weak brick against the wall of capitalism (but really it's more like throwing a feather into a tornado, it's not going to do shit), but it can also just be selfish and unnecessary. I was going to write more, but I'm running out of time before I goto work and see if I can spy any shoplifters, who I will try to have get caught because a) they make my life more difficult, in that I need to then remember what books have numbers off so they can be ordered manually, and a.2) mean that it gives reason for me to get yelled at by some idiot who can't understand just because the computer says we have something doesn't mean we really do (we don't have computers that know when someone has stolen something without our noticing it). And b) because the publishing industry has enough problems right now with money, and it's not as if books aren't available for free at libraries. Go there and get the book for free and read it, B&N might be an big corporation, but as Ralph Nader said, (not an exact quote) "they sell books, and books are a good thing".

So if you're going to go steal, go to some Wal-Mart or something, but watch out they have a wall of video screens in the back room with a small army watching them, just waiting to see you pocket some of their items.

n  n

Boggis and Bunce and Bean

One fat, one short, one lean.

These horrible crooks

So different in looks

Were none the less equally mean.’

2023 - 1970’s Immersion Reading Challenge

Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl (1970; 1988 ed.) 90 pages.

READING LEVEL: 4.1 AR POINTS 1.0
(4th grade…more or less)

A very cute, short and easy high-paced little read full of excitement that children will really enjoy. Although the animals steal, drink hard cider and prefer to stay hidden underground, that’s okay because they are underground animals and that’s just what they do to feed their families. It’s better than the three mean and nasty farmers: fat Boggis, squat Bunce and skinny Bean winning this war and killing all the underground animals. Kids will love that the animals win!

Мне показалось однообразно и скучновато: весь сюжет можно свести к одной фразе "Лис крадет у фермеров еду и, попавшись, роет норы, чтобы снова украсть немного еды".
Н. (почти 5) прослушал с умеренным интересом, в общем, будем смотреть кино.

5/5 stars

this is probably my favorite roald dahl book, and if you haven't read it, i'd highly recommend it! it's funny, fast paced, and the descriptions of food will make your mouth water!

such a classic.

So, I finished all Dahl books I had. I really did have fun. Hope to read his other works too. After all, you're never too old to read tales.