Fantastic Mr Fox Book by Roald Dahl
Book Review : Fantastic Mr Fox Book by Roald Dahl
In the tradition of The Adventures of Peter Rabbit, this is a “garden tale” of farmer versus vermin, or vice versa. The farmers in this case are a vaguely criminal team of three stooges: “Boggis and Bunce and Bean / One fat, one short, one lean. / These horrible crooks / So different in looks / Were nonetheless equally mean.” Whatever their prowess as poultry farmers, within these pages their sole objective is the extermination of our hero–the noble, the clever, the Fantastic Mr. Fox. Our loyalties are defined from the start; after all, how could you cheer for a man named Bunce who eats his doughnuts stuffed with mashed goose livers? As one might expect, the farmers in this story come out smelling like … well, what farmers occasionally do smell like.
This early Roald Dahl adventure is great for reading aloud to three- to seven-year-olds, who will be delighted to hear that Mr. Fox keeps his family one step ahead of the obsessed farmers. When they try to dig him out, he digs faster; when they lay siege to his den, he tunnels to where the farmers least expect him–their own larders! In the end, Mr. Fox not only survives, but also helps the whole community of burrowing creatures live happily ever after. With his usual flourish, Dahl evokes a magical animal world that, as children, we always knew existed, had we only known where or how to look for it. (Ages 9 to 12) –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Boggis, Bunce and Bean are the meanest three farmers you could meet. They are determined to get Mr Fox – but he has other plans! This edition has a great new Quentin Blake cover and new author biography.
Plot Summary : Fantastic Mr Fox Book by Roald Dahl
This story is about a fox named Mr Fox. In order to feed his family, Mr Fox steals chickens, ducks, turkeys, and cider each night from three mean and wealthy farmers: Boggis, Bunce and Bean. The farmers are fed up with Mr Fox’s theft and try to kill him. One night, the farmers wait outside Mr Fox’s foxhole in an attempt to ambush him. When Mr Fox emerges from his home, the farmers fire at him. However, the farmers only succeed in blowing off Mr Fox’s tail.
Determined to catch him, the farmers use spades and shovels to dig their way into the foxes’ home. However, Mr and Mrs Fox and their four children escape by digging a tunnel deeper into the ground. The farmers then use bulldozers in order to dig deeper into the ground, but to no avail.
The three men therefore decide to watch the entrance to the fox tunnel with shotguns at the ready, while the farmers’ men patrol the area to make sure the foxes do not escape.
After three days of starving, Mr Fox comes up with a plan. He and his children dig a tunnel into Boggis’s chicken house. There, they steal some chickens and depart without leaving any sign of their presence. They also raid Bunce’s storehouse of ducks, geese and vegetables as well as Bean’s underground cellar of cider.
Along the way, the foxes meet Badger and other digging animals who are also starving due to the farmers’ siege of the hillside. Mr Fox, feeling responsible for the whole affair, invites the other animals to a feast made from the loot. At the feast, the animals decide to make an underground town where they will be safe, while discreetly obtaining food from the farmers.
Meanwhile, Boggis, Bunce and Bean keep guard on the tunnel entrance in pouring rain, unaware that Mr Fox and his friends are stealing their food right under their noses. The book ends with the indication the three will be waiting forever.
In the book, local children sing the following verse (a limerick) to taunt the three farmers:
Boggis, Bunce and Bean
One fat, one short, one lean
These horrible crooks
So different in looks
Were none the less equally mean.
Characters : Fantastic Mr Fox Book by Roald Dahl
* Mr Fox
* Mrs Fox
* Badger
* Mrs Badger
* Mole
* Mrs Mole
* Rabbit
* Mrs Rabbit
* Weasel
* Mrs Weasel
* Boggis
* Bunce
* Bean
* Rat the Rat
* 4 little Foxes
Film version : Fantastic Mr Fox Book by Roald Dahl
The book has been adapted into a film by director Wes Anderson. It was made using stop-motion animation and features the voices of George Clooney as Mr. Fox, Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox, Bill Murray as Badger, and Michael Gambon as Franklin Bean. The movie adds scenes before Mr. Fox attacks the three farmers and after their bulldozing of the hill, as well as a slightly altered ending and more of a fleshy plot about Mr. Fox’s past life as a thief.
Stage Adaptations : Fantastic Mr Fox Book by Roald Dahl
The book was adapted into a play of the same name by David Wood and was first performed at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry in 2001. The play is licensed (in UK only) through Casarotto Ramsay Ltd. for repertory performances and Samuel French Ltd. for amateur performances.
Opera : Fantastic Mr Fox Book by Roald Dahl
Tobias Picker adapted the book into an Opera (the only adaptation with origins in the USA) which had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Opera performing December 9-22 in 1998. the Opera starred Gerald Finley as Mr. Fox and Suzanna Guzman as Mrs. Fox.
