Once upon a time there was a fox. He had a wife and children, and he lived with them in a burrow next to a tree on a hill. Every evening he took care of the bellies of his loved ones, looting fresh meat from three nearby farms. One day, robbed farmers said, “ENOUGH!” and they planted a pet. Despite the fact that the situation was dangerous, the redhead managed to escape and even defend his family and friends from the torturers’ guns. It was a fantastic fox.
Chocolate, witches, giant and a fox
Roald Dahl was a writer who became famous in the field of children’s and youth literature. This creator, probably best known for his stories about a boy and a chocolate factory, made many stories popular with younger audiences. Until recently, I didn’t realize that some of my favorite childhood movies were based on Dahl’s novels. Seeing the cover of Fantastic Mr. Fox in the announcements of the Znak publishing house, I decided it was high time to make up for the work of this man.
The perverse owner of a beautiful kit
A book about an extremely clever redhead and his fight with farmers: Gnojek, Blagier and Szparag is a free hour of reading for an adult reader. About 100 pages are read extremely quickly, because the story is written in an uncomplicated language (which is not surprising, since it is a book for a younger audience). The fantastic fox is an enterprising, caring, but also cunning character, driven by quite selfish motives and a questionable moral code. Asked by the badger whether he feels remorse for stealing without hesitation, he explains that his actions are dictated solely by the good of the family, and the farmers are the bad guys, because they want to kill them (he does not take into account the fact that the farmers threaten all the animals in the clearing by being robbed by it). In such a comparison, the pet’s actions do seem to be the lesser offense indeed. After all, in the comparison of theft and murder, the latter is much worse. Interestingly, the author himself directs us from the very beginning to the fact that the fox is the positive hero in this story. Even in appearance, farmers are disgusting, and in addition they eat dirty and behave quite rude. Therefore, it is worth using this reading to conduct a light conversation with the child about the moral code and the behavior of the fox. It can also be nicely combined with a discussion of other famous characters who break the law despite their good motives. Of course, it is also an option to ignore this topic, as the child, unlike the adult, will not notice any other bottom or serious plot in this book.
If only foxes had such a voice!
The story of the ginger thief was published very attractively. The first thing that draws attention is the well-chosen colors of the cover and the funnily drawn main character on it. Quentin Blake – a cartoonist awarded with the title of Laureate of Children’s Creativity – is responsible for both these graphics and those that appear woven into the content. In addition to the story, the volume also contains 10 pages of interesting and funny information about the author – his life and work. Finally, it is worth mentioning that in the animation the fox was voiced by George Clooney himself.
