Chanticleer and the Fox

After reading Barbara Cooney’s acceptance speech for the Caldecott medal awarded to this book, I wanted to experience it for myself again. The story is a Middle Age fable with resemblance to Aesop’s The Fox and the Crow in which Chanticleer, a proud rooster, falls prey to the flattery of a predatory fox. He’s able to escape by tricking the fox in turn. I love how Cooney both preserved the style of Chaucer’s language and brought it to life with illustrations depicting the time period of the original text. There is also an adult adaptation of Chaucer’s tale that I love called The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin, Jr.

After reading Barbara Cooney’s acceptance speech for the Caldecott medal awarded to this book, I wanted to experience it for myself again. The story is a Middle Age fable with resemblance to Aesop’s The Fox and the Crow in which Chanticleer, a proud rooster, falls prey to the flattery of a predatory fox. He’s able to escape by tricking the fox in turn. I love how Cooney both preserved the style of Chaucer’s language and brought it to life with illustrations depicting the time period of the original text. There is also an adult adaptation of Chaucer’s tale that I love called The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin, Jr.

I could swear I've read this story before, either as a part of Aesop's Fables (especially with the moral mentioned at then end) or in one of Andrew Lang's Colour Fairy Books. But anyway, I've enjoyed other books illustrated by Barbara Cooney. However, this is one of her earlier works compared to the books I really liked (Miss Rumphius, Ox-Cart Man) so that would explain it.

It's not a bad book, a bit dated and a kid of today may wonder why a rooster has seven wives, lol. 3.5/5 stars. Out of Barbara Cooney's works, this is one of the weaker of her books.

Perhaps a little long-winded for today's young listeners, but it would probably make for a good family read. Despite the simple story, there are lots of discussion points.

For just one example, the widow 'had only three large sows, three cows, and also a sheep called Molly.' Then we meet Chanticleer and his harem of seven hens - so the natural question is, why didn't they count as the widow's property? (My guess would be that they're more taken-for-granted, as everyone had chickens, but to own the other animals was more notable, indicative of more success.)

And though there are lots of words, they're worth reading aloud. The rhythm and color and metaphor do help us remember the source, even if one has never actually read Chaucer.

“Chanticleer and the Fox” is about a rooster who is flattered by a fox into the woods. I didn’t feel that the illustrations added too much to the story, other than just repeating what the words had already said, but I did like the moral behind the story. This story, through its words and pictures, shows how falling so easily for someone’s flattery can land you in big trouble. The illustrations were very simple, but just detailed enough to be just what the story needs.

This simple, historic folktale from the 1400's is more like a fable because it teaches a lesson; when a fox tries to trick a proud rooster through flattery, rooster nearly dies. The primitive style illustrations show the time period by the clothing and environment; the illustrations are made by the scratchboard technique- most effective for printing in the 1950’s. This was a Caldecott winner. It can be used for discussions in art, history, moral lessons, and cause and effect.

This book is a children's version of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Nun's Priest's Tale," and is about the prized rooster on an old widow's farm. The rooster, Chanticleer has a nightmare about a fox attacking him, but the hen tell him he is just being a coward. The rooster is proven right when the fox comes and kidnaps the rooster. This story would be an excellent example of personification of animals, similes and metaphors, and story's that end with a moral. The book presents a simple story, but some of the language structures and word choices may be unfamiliar because the original story is from the 1300s.