This was a fun and quite satisfying read about a fox who does all he can to provide for his family. A story of family, friendship and sticking together as a community.

Read aloud to my kids. We plan to read as many books as we can by Roald Dhal.

“I understand what you're saying, and your comments are valuable, but I'm gonna ignore your advice.”
― Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox

So, is this book suppose to teach children that it is alright to steal if you'll just be clever enough to run away and outwit your adversaries?

Some of the nastiest and most obnoxious kinds of human beings are found in the books of Roald Dahl—be it the gluttonous Augustus Gloop, the spoiled Veruca Salt, the despotic and cruel Miss Trunchbull or the wealthy and vile Victor Hazell. And though not always so in the real world, in Dahl’s world, these characters do get their just desserts whether in the form of a taste of their own medicine or simply failing to achieve their desires or objects. One variety of nasty one encounters in Dahl’s work is the kind inimical to animals—not bothering about them even when under their own care like Roy in the humorous ‘The Ant-Eater’ who starves the ant-eater he insisted on having as a pet or mercilessly hunting them for pleasure like the Greggs in The Magic Finger. These too, learn their lessons, and not in a good way (leaving the reader cheering on).

And it is a few characters of this category that we meet in Dahl’s 1970 story, Fantastic Mr Fox, in the form of three rather loathsome farmers, Boggis, a chicken farmer who always eats three chickens smothered in dumplings for every meal; Bunce, a duck and goose farmer whose meals comprise doughnuts and mashed goose liver; and Bean, the apple and turkey farmer who lives on cider alone. In appearance, they are very different from each other, Boggis enormously fat; Bunce, 'a pot-bellied dwarf'; and Bean as his name suggests, as thin as a pencil.

These three may have little in common besides being farmers, but they do have a common nemesis, namely Mr Fox who targets their farms, making away with chickens, ducks, geese or turkeys as suits his taste each day. Mr Fox is also rather clever, managing to use the winds to his advantage and ensuring that Boggis, Bunce, and Bean can never gauge where he is. But sadly for Mr Fox, all this changes, for as our story opens, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean have determined to be rid of him, but where they go far beyond this perhaps justified wish is in wanting to track poor Mr Fox down to wherever he might be hiding and destroy him as well as his family!

For a time it seems they just might achieve their objective too, for the three seek out the entrance to his hole and begin their ruthless hunt. Mr Fox is a little cocky and overestimates his skills, something for which he ends up paying a quite heavy price as the three villains do mange to hit him with their guns—he comes through ok, but sadly loses his tail before dashing back into his hole. Boggis, Bunce, and Bean are unsurprisingly irked and continue their cruel pursuit, bringing initially shovels and later caterpillar tractors with mechanical shovels to do the job—for they mean to dig Mr Fox out by hook or crook.

In Mr Fox’s hole also live his wife Mrs Fox and four small cubs. In the face of the three farmers and their relentless hunt, the four become confined to their hole unable to leave in one direction or the other, for Boggis, Bunce, and Bean have also deployed their employees and farm hands to surround the hill completely.

Is this Mr Fox’s undoing, finally? No, of course not, for here is no ordinary fox but Fantastic Mr Fox, and while he might have felt defeated and deflated for a while, with his four children by his side, who are very willing to help, he comes up with a plan. As they begin to execute it, they also find themselves joined by other underground residents including Mr Badger who have also been suffering a similar fate, thanks to the three farmers. Now they join forces and as they act on their plan, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean are left twiddling their thumbs!

This is a fun read where Dahl is squarely on the side of the animals (as was I) though they might be responsible for some damage (not too much though considering how much the farmers actually have). I found myself rather scared for poor Mr Fox and his family as those first few chapters unfolded as it increasingly seemed like there was simply going to be no way out. Would the Fox family actually end up starving or hunted out? Or would there be a miracle rescue?

It was the latter though not from any third party but the Foxes themselves as Mr Fox comes up with a plan the farmers couldn’t have anticipated. Not only does this prove to be the answer for their own woes but also for the underground animal community at large who find the perfect way to outwit the farmers and overcome the threat they pose.

Boggis, Bunce, and Bean may be especially detestable and off-putting, but their cruelty is not too far from the truth, with many animals (badgers are one instance I’ve seen on rescue pages I follow) often targeted and destroyed even when there’s ample evidence these are not responsible for the damage they are accused of. One is pleased to see them outfoxed (pun very much intended) and cheers on for the animals all through. Dahl is fair here, not allowing Mr Fox to get away with it completely, having to both pay for his arrogance (with his tail) and suffer being confined to his hole with no food or drink for some days before he can find a way out.

Illustrated as always by Quentin Blake, this was an enjoyable read which did have me holding my breath for a bit!

The book has undergone some rewrites (by Puffin) to make it more PC and while I don’t agree with such exercises, there were some phrases which I could see being likely targets.

Maybe because I read it as an adult, this was only an okay reading experience for me. The only other Roald Dahl I read for the first time as an adult rather than a kid was The BFG, but I still loved that book. So maybe this is just a book that only works well for kids. Also, unlike a lot of Dahl's books, it hasn't aged very well.

The basic gist of the plot is that Mr. Fox and his family live in a wood on a hill by three farms. The farmers are terrible men. They are typical Dahl characters, in that they are more caricatures than characters; his villains always have an edge of satire about them. And he also tends to physicalize their badness. One is extremely gluttonous and fat, one is very short and is described as a "dwarf" with a potbelly, and the other is very tall and beanpole thin because he doesn't eat anything ever, only drinks his own homemade cider (aka he is an alcoholic . . . as an aside, I have always appreciated, especially as a kid, how dark Dahl's books are). The description of the Farmers was the part that had aged the worst for me, but it's also pretty sexist in the way it treats the women characters.

Mostly, though, I just didn't think Mr. Fox was all that fantastic? The Farmers decide they are going to kill him to stop him stealing their livestock, and end up destroying the entire hill and forest along the way. And the way he stops them didn't really make much sense. Why would all those animals want to spend the rest of their lives underground and never coming up to see the world again? It doesn't sound very happy to me, even though the animals seem to think it is by the end. Also, those Farmers are assholes, but the animals decide that stealing from them is okay, and it just felt weird to me.

Read Harder Challenge 2019: A book in which an animal or inanimate object is a point-of-view character.

This morning two new Roald Dahl books arrived and this one was an instant must-read. From a young age on I always adored stories about forest animals (which is why it's even more incomprehensible and outrageous that I have missed out on such a classic until now)!

The book is very thin but the story inside is full of wit, fun and excitement!


Roald Dahl tells the story of Mr. Fox, his wife and children and their tranquil life. However, there are 3 farmers with very bad intentions and since Mr. Fox is trying to save his family, he must be very clever indeed and come up with a fantastic plan - which he does.

The story unfolds in a very thrilling way (not too bloody though, clearly because it's meant for smaller children too) and the author managed to put some moral concepts even in here (in this case it's about stealing and catch & release).
What I especially love is that the author shows a clever fox but not a malicious one. His characterization is entirely amiable (which is not always the case with stories about foxes).

As with the other volumes, this one also features lots and lots of illustrations by Quentin Blake and I think they will never lose their magic.
So if the three farmers haven't died, they are still waiting! *lol*

This is such a cute little book! A quick, funny and very enjoyable read. Highly recommend it if you want to dive back into your childhood for an hour or so.

Roald Dahl is famous for a reason!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GREG!!! YOU ARE OLD!!!! EVEN OLDER THAN LAST YEAR! AND THE YEAR BEFORE!!!

greg's birthday is today, so i am floating this now to remind you that you still have time to shower him with presents!

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it is greg's birthday!!! and as a treat for him, i am going to create a book review in which i use plenty of pictures of foxes!!! they are his favorite!!

first, a sleepy fox:



a grouchy fox:



a defiant fox:



a hide-y fox:



fox and friends:











bad fox:



chilly fox:


charming fox:



suspicious fox:



mischievous fox:



meditating fox:



super-orange fox:



fox in a tube:



smiling fox:



stretchy fox:



sharp-nailed fox:



log-fox:



hypnotic killer foxes:



and just to keep this relevant:



fantastic mr fox.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GREG!!!

come to my blog!

حسيتها مش مناسبة للاطفال ومفيهاش كمان لا رسومات ولا اغني زي شارلي ومصنع الشيكولاته.

Loved it as expected from Roald Rahl.

This book was the shortest book I've read by him and also the least imaginative. But very well written and funny rhymes that made it entertaining. It's a short read and the story never dulls.

The Fantastic fox lives on while the 3 idiots man their posts lol

"Boggis and Bunce and Bean
One fat, one short, one lean.
These horrible crooks
So different in looks
Were nonetheless equally mean."

Tímalaus