Fantastic Mr. Fox

It turns out that my kid and I are both Dahl fans. Not uber-fans, but we usually always have a pretty good time every time we crack a book.

THIS IS A GOOD THING. We didn't have that great a time with Narnia. Give us Gaiman, give us Dahl, and even give us Dickens, but Please, No Thank You to Lewis. :)

High points of Mr. Fox:

The bad guys look and sound not like farmers, but bankers. We have a full redistribution of wealth scheme going on here... maybe not so much Communism as it is a garden variety Socialist societal setup told within a simple tale digging holes and getting one's tail shot off.

Fortunately, it's not THAT dry. In fact, I was pretty amused to see just how much hard liquor is downed by all. I mean, it's not just theft and show more murder we're talking about -- but the full-on drunken debaucheries of the proletariat... FOR the proletariat!

Read it if you don't believe me. :) show less

I appreciate how this book takes a fox, who can usually be stereotypically be viewed as a mean creature, and makes him the protagonist. The farmers, who are usually viewed as upstanding citizens, are portrayed in a more negative light. The fox is stealing from the farmers in creative ways and the farmers repeatedly try and stop him. This book does a good job of creating a young hearted story and making it challenging and interesting so that is is not too simple or an easy read. Even though it is only 91 pages, there is a lot of great vocabulary and writing found throughout that will help children grow. The main purpose of this book is to show how smartness and cunning are attributes that can be used to overcome those trying to keep you show more down. show less

Farmers try to murder a fox and his family in this delightful children's story. It bears noting that the fox also murders many chickens, so there are no good guys in this tale. Which is a good lesson for kids.

There are no heroes. There are only degrees of evil.

Read this on Audio. A classic, very short, children's novel (but I would really term it a novella) about Mr. Fox (who happens to be fantastic) sticks it to the man, 3 men actually, who are trying to kill him. After having just reread Danny Champion of the World, I can see that Dahl really likes it when the little guy gets one over on the the rich elite. Its a very cute story. If you haven't read it, do. I would also recommend the animated movie version that Wes Anderson did. Love that. A note about the narrator, it was actor Chris O'Dowd, who did an excellent job. I'm pretty sure he was channeling Matt Berry (his co-start on the IT Crowd) for the voice of Mr. Fox. Really well done, IMO.

I love children’s classics, so many of which are simply wasted on children, who won’t get a lot of the jokes. So it is with Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox.

Mr Fox really is fantastic. It doesn’t hurt his cause that his enemies are three stubborn but blockheaded farmers: Boggis, Bunce and Bean. In the end (no spoiler here, this is a Dahl novel, after all), Mr. Fox lives up to his fantastic reputation and helps not only his families but his friends and neighbors. Highly recommended.

I’ve never met a Roald Dahl book I didn’t like, and Fantastic Mr. Fox is no different. While Fantastic Mr. Fox isn’t his greatest, it’s still a delightful read. The story is clever, funny, and filled with great illustrations. The farmers are deliciously vile, the animal characters are loveable, and Mr. Fox, well he’s just fantastic, isn’t he?

I did think the ending was kind of abrupt– perhaps because it seemed like the story lacked any real climax. And, I thought the story could have benefited from being fleshed out a little more. But, over all this book is worth your time.

I think this is one of those rare occassions where I thought the movie was better than the book.

Perhaps our most intense glimpse into Dahl's cluttered moral world. Welling up through the pores of an excellent pantomime is a vital draught of ambiguity for kids stricken with the phoney feeling of security that is our prevailing cultural pap.