Fantastic Mr.Fox

by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake

“Fantastic Mr Fox” by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. The first Roald Dahl book that my son who turned seven recently read! And loved!! A gripping plot of three mean and nasty farmers who are out on a mission to kill Mr Fox. 

Boggis is an enormously fat chicken farmer who only eats boiled chickens smothered in fat. Bunce is a duck and goose farmer whose dinner gives him a beastly temper. Has to when he eats a disgusting paste of goose liver stuffed in doughnuts right!! Bean is a turkey and apple farmer who only drinks gallons of strong cider. Now coming to the protagonist, Mr Fox. He is so clever that he creeps down into the valley every evening and helps himself to food from the farms of these three farmers. Now the farmers have come up with a plan to bang bang bang (shoot) the fox dead and have him strung up on their front porch. While they think that it is impossible for the fox to escape, he comes up with a fantastic plan of his own which is beyond their wild imagination! 

My seven year old loved the book and couldn’t stay away from it. This was the first non Indian book we have read in a year. It was one of my gifts for his birthday. Since he doesn’t yet read entirely  on his own, I was contemplating whether to buy chapter books like these. Realised that colour editions of Roald Dahl books are available in large print with colour illustrations. This helps children who are used to picture books. And I went ahead and Mr Fox has been a hit. Though I had to read out the entire book (18 chapters spread across 81 pages) over four days, it was a lovely time for us to bond and he would plead with me to read just another chapter being lured by the name of the next chapter :)