“When you’re pinned against a wall, and you have no options except to overcome, you discover how strong you really are.” -Unknown

Reading Level:

Grades 4-5  [level according to common core)

Grade   4.9  [level according to Scholastic – reflects the grade level at which a student reading on grade could read the book independently]

Interest Level:

Grades 3-5

Review and Comments:

Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl is a story about the sly and cunning Mr. Fox.  He must provide for his family so every night he considers the cuisine that three different farms can provide.   Farmer Boggis raises chickens, Farmer Bunce raises ducks and geese, and Farmer Bean raises turkeys and grows apples. This bounty always provides a tempting menu of delicious dinners. The farmers however do not look at Mr. Fox as a clever fellow.  They consider him a thief plain and simple.  They are determined to stop him at all costs so they form a coalition with one goal – to catch Mr. Fox and stop his thievery.

The farmers’ first attempt to end Mr. Fox is almost a success, but they have only his tail to show for their efforts.   They will not wait another day so together they make the decisive decision to dig him out.  Mr. Fox knows immediately what is happening.  He and his family, Mrs. Fox and their four little foxes, begin digging downward into the earth ahead of the shovels as fast as they can.  The shovels are not fast enough so the farmers decide to use machines.  It is a match to see who can dig faster.

After long hours of excavating, the farmers are not discouraged one bit. They begin part two of their plan. They keep a vigil at the crater day and night. They even order about one hundred men who work on their farms to keep watch so the fox family will not escape by some other passage.  They will “starve them out.”

After three days Mr. Fox and his family are indeed beginning to starve.  Then Mr. Fox devises a scheme that is – well – fantastic! He and his four foxes dig again but this time they dig with a clear-cut destination.  They dig under each of the three farms while the farmers are busy guarding the crater and quietly and secretly enter a chicken house, a store house with prepared meats, and a secret cider cellar.  At each stop food is taken:  three chickens from Farmer Boggis, all the meat they want from Farmer Bunce, and gallon jars of cider from Farmer Bean.  All this food is given to Mrs. Fox to prepare a feast not just for their family but for all the digger families in the area who also suffer because of the search for Mr. Fox. There is the Rabbit family, the Mole family, the Weasel family, and the Badger family – twenty-nine attend the feast.

During the dinner, everyone toasts Mr. Fox, and Mrs. Fox even declares that her husband is a “Fantastic Fox.”  Mr. Fox envisions a safe underground town where each of the digger families will live.  He will continue to obtain food for everyone by using the tunnels that are now open and so convenient to each farm.  That way no one has to be exposed to “the dangers of the world.”  He invites each family to join him in this venture. Through all of the schemes and anticipated doom, Mr. Fox does not forget about the neighbors in his community who are also affected.

And what happened to farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean?  They are still sitting at the edge of the crater waiting for Mr. Fox to appear.  They know the bottom line is Mr. Fox will never change his modus operandi.

This book is a very good match for the suggested reading level. The opposing resolve of Mr. Fox and the farmers provides lots of action and helps build a fast paced and suspenseful story. Mr. Fox is so sure of himself he is never deterred from his cagey schemes even when survival seems impossible.  The farmers are never discouraged either but there is no humor in their resolve.  The farmers seek a violent end to Mr. Fox and their conversations express that goal so parents should consider that aspect of the story.

Possible Issues:

• Comments the farmers made about Mr. Fox:

1. “Dang and blast that lousy beast!”
2. “I’d like to rip his guts out.”
3. “He must be killed!”
4. “I’m not giving in till I’ve strung him up over my front porch, dead as a dumpling.”

• Graphic description of the farmers’ hygiene:

1. “He never washed. As a result, his earholes were clogged with all kind of much and wax and bit of chewing-gum and dead flies and stuff like that.”
2. “Bean rubbed the back of his neck with a dirty finger. He had a boil coming there and it itched.”

• Farmers Boggis and Bean wanted Farmer Bunce to climb down into the hole and said, “Down you go, you miserable midget!”

• “Shut up,” said Mr. Fox (to Rat).

Further Discussion:

• Gather information about the life and habits of a fox. Complete a graphic organizer by topic: appearance, habitat, diet, and life cycle, and one or two interesting facts.

• While reading the book make two lists of adjectives that describe Mr. Fox and the three farmers.

• Illustrate a bird’s eye view of the three farms including the hill and tree where Mr. Fox lives.

• Make a wanted poster for Mr. Fox. Include an illustration, physical description, and crimes.

• Define protagonist and antagonist. [ A protagonist is a main character who generates the action of a story and engages the reader’s interest and empathy.  An antagonist is a character who opposes the protagonist.]

Catholic Resources:

• Isidore is the patron saint of farmers. His feast day is May 15.

• Prayer to St. Isidore: God, through the intercession of St. Isidore, the holy Farmer, grant that we may overcome all feelings of pride. May we always serve You with that humility which pleases You, through his merits and example.

• CCC 2408 The seventh commandment forbids theft, that is, usurping another’s property against the reasonable will of the owner. There is no theft if consent can be presumed or if refusal is contrary to reason and the universal destination of goods. This is the case in obvious and urgent necessity when the only way to provide for immediate, essential needs (food, shelter, clothing..) is to put at one’s disposal and use the property of others.