Fantastic Mr Fox

Roald Dahl is the grand master of the children's story. First published in 1970, 'Fantastic Mr Fox' may not have the reknown of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', but it is a tale full of excitement and imagination. After almost forty years, it can still compete with the best of children's literature that is being published today.

Before we even meet Mr Fox, Roald Dahl introduces us to three obnoxious farmers who go by the names of Boggis, Bunce and Bean. Dahl really goes to town with his characterization here. Farmer Boggis keeps chickens and is a prime specimen of obesity because he eats three whole chickens along with dumplings for breakfast, lunch and supper every day. Farmer Bunce, on the other hand, has thousands of ducks and geese. He is a pot-bellied dwarf whose diet consists of doughnuts stuffed with goose liver paste. He seems to persist with this regime even though he has a stomach ache and a bad temper because of it. Lastly, there is Farmer Bean who keeps turkeys and has an apple orchard. No, he doesn't eat turkeys: he merely brews cider from his apples and drinks it by the gallon. He is extremely thin but very clever. These three farmers are so despicable that the local children chant a rhyme about their meanness when they see them. It is actually quite surprising that they manage to co-operate with each other, given their unpleasantness.

Co-operate they must, however, if they are to have any chance at all of outwitting Fantastic Mr Fox. Mr Fox has a wife and four little foxes to feed, and every evening he asks Mrs Fox whether she would like a chicken, a duck, a goose or a turkey. He then steals off to the appropriate farm and brings back the chosen bird. He is a wily creature who approaches the farm with the wind blowing towards him, so he will pick up the scent of a farmer lying in wait with a shotgun and quickly change direction.

Boggis, Bunce and Bean are furious and eventually decide they must hide outside Mr Fox's hole and shoot him as soon as he emerges. The story follows their frustrated attempts to do away with Mr Fox and his family, who always manage to dig further down and evade the farmers. The foxes are horrified when tractors are brought along to dig them out, but Mr Fox comes up with a plan to dig tunnels along to each of the farms and steal enough food and cider for a party. Help is enlisted from other animals, all of whom are invited to a great feast. Even the rabbits come along to enjoy great bunches of carrots.

Foxes are often portrayed as villains in children's stories, 'Chicken Licken' being a good example. In 'Fantastic Mr Fox', however, we find ourselves rooting for the family of foxes in the face of the drastic measures taken by the three loathsome farmers. The story moves along at a fast pace through chapters of about half a dozen pages each, and it's unlikely any child will have the chance to get bored.

Quentin Blake's wonderful illustrations contribute hugely to bringing the story alive. The animals are seen as life-size in comparison to the chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. Mr Fox sports a stylish jacket and neck tie while Badger wears a waistcoat. Snouts and eyes are exaggerated, and the animals more often than not have beaming, enthusiastic smiles. The farmers, on the other hand, are grumpy, miserable souls. The illustration of two tractors with their headlights beaming makes them look like two monsters with sets of fangs, ready to gobble up an creature that should get in their way.

'Fantastic Mr Fox' is intended as a read-aloud story for children aged three to seven, or as a read-alone book for those aged nine to twelve. Three might be a little young, especially to listen to the whole story at one sitting. A confident independent reader younger than nine might easily tackle the book, as the text is set in a large font, sentences are short, and of course there are delightful illustrations on almost every page.

This may not be Roald Dahl's most famous children's story, but it is certainly one worth introducing to a young child. They will delight in poking fun at the farmers and enjoy following the thread of the animals working together to outwit them. There is never a dull moment in 'Fantastic Mr Fox'.

Fantastic Mr Fox

by Roald Dahl

Paperback, 96 pages

Puffin, 2007

ISBN 0141322659

Price £4.99 Amazon £3.19

Dahl's Dirty Beasts

Some children may grow up thinking that poetry is an art form that is stodgy and boring, or has to revolve around lofty ideas. If that is the case, they cannot have been introduced to Roald Dahl's 'Dirty Beasts', a collection of nine verses each featuring a creature that is either particularly frightening, very clever or quite extraordinary in some way. The book is likely to delight anyone who has enjoyed Dahl's 'The BFG', 'George's Marvellous Medicine' or 'The Twits', amongst others.

'The Pig' opens this anthology: a pig with a massive brain, who wonders what the purpose of his life is. He is clever enough to work it out:

'“They want my bacon slice by slice

“To sell at a tremendous price!

“They want my tender juicy chops

“To put in all the butchers' shops!”'

You can probably guess what happens when Farmer Bland comes to feed him the following morning.

No less gruesome is the verse about 'The Crocodile'. Not the best choice for bedtime reading, as this beast smears boys with mustard before crunching them, and devours little girls with butterscotch and caramel:

'It's such a super marvellous treat

When boys are hot and girls are sweet.'

A single page is then accorded to 'The Lion', who doesn't beat about the bush when it comes to telling us his favourite food. We are then introduced to 'The Scorpion' and told to be thankful that we in England will never find one in our bed – or will we? 'There's something moving on my feet'...

'The Ant-Eater' looks quite cuddly in comparison but beware, looks are deceiving. 'The Porcupine' teaches us the all-important lesson of having a good look before we sit down anywhere. A poor little girl fails to do this before settling on a 'comfy-looking little mound' to eat her favourite raspberry-cream chocolates that she has just bought with her pocket-money:

'My backside seemed to catch on fire!

A hundred bits of red-hot bits of wire

A hundred prickles sticking in

And puncturing my precious skin!'

A very costly visit to the dentist ensues, as mum seems to think he is the best person to remove the prickles. He seems to take great delight in doing so, and well he might with fifty guineas to come as payment.

We might expect 'The Cow' to be a less threatening beast, although Miss Milky Daisy is no ordinary cow but one that grows a pair of gold and silver wings. The crowds come to see her dive, swoop and loop the loop, and all but one of the onlookers clap, cheer and behave well. Can you guess what punishment is inflicted on the 'horrid man' who insults Daisy? Now we know why this anthology is entitled 'Dirty Beasts'.

The final verse in the collection, 'The Tummy Beast', describes a young boy who is convinced that there is someone in his tummy:

' “It's true!” I cried. “I swear it, mummy!

There is a person in my tummy!

He talks to me at night in bed,

He's always asking to be fed.” '

The poor boy's mother doesn't believe a word of it. She thinks it's just a 'silly asinine excuse' to be greedy and eat sugar buns and biscuits all day long. To look at this specimen of childhood obesity, you might tend to agree with her. I'm afraid, however, that 'darling mother' nearly dies when she actually hears the beast in the tummy snort, grumble and then actually demand nuts, chocolates and sweets. It's all too much for her.

Quentin Blake's imaginative caricatures add even more to the feeling of fun in this book. He really goes to town on the creatures in 'Dirty Beasts', where The Ant-eater devours an eighty-three-year-old woman (mistaking 'aunt' for 'ant'), flinging her in the air by her pony-tail. In 'the Toad and the Snail' we see grinning Frenchmen brandishing knives as they chase a giant toad; this turns out to be a magic toad who turns first into a giant snail and then into the 'gorgeous, glamorous, absurd, enchanting Roly-poly bird', a beautiful shade of blue with a multi-coloured, stripy tail, on whose back a little boy rides.

The humour here will not, of course, be to everyone's taste, and some of the ideas will be frightening for very young children. Slightly older independent readers, however, who appreciate this kind of humour will have plenty of fun going through this collection and letting their imagination run wild. The illustrations will provide a delightful source of encouragement. The only drawback is that the poems are not split into stanzas, and in a few cases there are as many as thirty-six continuous lines to a page. This could prove a little confusing or off-putting to a young reader who is still gaining confidence.

To anyone who has enjoyed Roald Dahl's novels but has not yet experienced his poetry, I would definitely recommend this collection of verse. I would also suggest it for children who perhaps need encouragement to read poetry and who will not be frightened by the ideas here but will see the funny side to them. There is plenty of rhythm and rhyme, and plenty of entertainment to be had.

Dirty Beasts

by Roald Dahl

with illustrations by Quentin Blake

Picture Puffins 2001

Paperback, 32 pages

ISBN 0140568239

Price £5.99 (Amazon £4.49)