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Red Fox and His Canoe (I Can Read Books: Level 1) by Benchley, Nathaniel (1985) Perfect Paperback
A young Indian boy receives a larger canoe along with some unforeseen complications.
Perfect Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
6 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Nathaniel Benchley
80 books25 followersBorn in Newton, Massachusetts to a literary family, he was the son of Gertrude Darling and Robert Benchley (1889-1945), the noted American writer, humorist, critic, actor, and one of the founders of the Algonquin Round Table in New York City.
Nathaniel Benchley was the highly-respected author of many children's/juvenile books that provided learning for the youthful readers with stories of various animals or through the book's historical settings. Benchley dealt with diverse locales and topics such as "Bright Candles", which recounts the experiences of a 16-year-old Danish boy during the German occupation of his country in World War II; and "Small Wolf", a story about a Native American boy who meets white men on the island of Manhattan and learns that their ideas about land are different from those of his own peoples'.
Film director/producer, Norman Jewison made Benchley's 1961 novel The Off-Islanders into a motion picture titled The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming for which he received the nomination for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. He was a close friend of actor Humphrey Bogart and wrote his biography in 1975.
Benchley's novel Welcome to Xanadu was made into the 1975 motion picture Sweet Hostage.
His elder son, Peter Benchley (1940-2006), was a writer best known for writing the novel Jaws and the screenplay of the 1975 Steven Spielberg film made from it. His younger son, Nat Benchley, is a writer and actor who has portrayed his grandfather, Robert Benchley, in a one-man, semi-biographical stage show, "Benchley Despite Himself". The show was a compilation of Robert Benchley's best monologues, short films, radio rantings and pithy pieces as recalled, edited, and acted by his grandson Nat, and combined with family reminiscences and friends' perspectives."
Nathaniel Benchley died in 1981 in Boston, Massachusetts and was interred in the family plot at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Nantucket.
Nathaniel Benchley was the highly-respected author of many children's/juvenile books that provided learning for the youthful readers with stories of various animals or through the book's historical settings. Benchley dealt with diverse locales and topics such as "Bright Candles", which recounts the experiences of a 16-year-old Danish boy during the German occupation of his country in World War II; and "Small Wolf", a story about a Native American boy who meets white men on the island of Manhattan and learns that their ideas about land are different from those of his own peoples'.
Film director/producer, Norman Jewison made Benchley's 1961 novel The Off-Islanders into a motion picture titled The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming for which he received the nomination for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. He was a close friend of actor Humphrey Bogart and wrote his biography in 1975.
Benchley's novel Welcome to Xanadu was made into the 1975 motion picture Sweet Hostage.
His elder son, Peter Benchley (1940-2006), was a writer best known for writing the novel Jaws and the screenplay of the 1975 Steven Spielberg film made from it. His younger son, Nat Benchley, is a writer and actor who has portrayed his grandfather, Robert Benchley, in a one-man, semi-biographical stage show, "Benchley Despite Himself". The show was a compilation of Robert Benchley's best monologues, short films, radio rantings and pithy pieces as recalled, edited, and acted by his grandson Nat, and combined with family reminiscences and friends' perspectives."
Nathaniel Benchley died in 1981 in Boston, Massachusetts and was interred in the family plot at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Nantucket.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
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August 2, 2019Det här är min första bok jag läste på svenska. which means:
This is my first book I read in Swedish.
Don't ask me to tell you the reason why I started learning Swedish. I don't know. Probably something subconscious triggered this.
IKEA, the strange character å, the opportunity to live in Sweden if I know the language, its relative ease to learn Swedish; for someone who already knows English.
An abyss is the soul of the bookworm.
Anyway, I read this book which was a picture book of 60 pages in a day after at least 5 labouring hours of scribbling down (almost) every single word I was reading.
But I improved my vocabulary.
The story? It is about a young Native American boy called Red Fox (Röda Räven) who wants to build a new canoe and fish more fish, but funny (and annoying for him) things occurred and he comes home with... a shortened canoe.
It was written in 1964 by American writer Nathaniel Benchley, the illustrations were made by Arnold Lobel and the translation in Swedish (2001) by Erna Knutsson.
I won't say more but I will leave you with this bizarre image in your mind. A linguaception
I, a Greek native speaker have read a children's book written in English, translated in Swedish.
Are you dizzy yet or not?
April 21, 2010
This is a very cute book about a little Indian boy named Red Fox who wants the biggest canoe in the world. His father makes it for him, but he is joined by too many animal friends who think there's plenty of room for them.
May 29, 2021
Red Fox has a canoe so that he can go fishing. But he wants a bigger one. So he walks through the woods with his father, looking for just the right tree. Together, Red Fox and his father make the new canoe and Red Fox happily goes fishing.
But when Red Fox's canoe is filling up with fish . . . Red Fox has caught half a million fish . . . bear wants to come into the canoe and eat them all. What will happen when Red Fox discovers that his canoe may be a bit too big?
This “I Can Read” book is perfect for beginning readers who are learning to sound out words and sentences. : large print, familiar words, repetitive vocabulary, short sentences, and simple concepts. The target audience is preschool through primary grades, ages four through eight; six through eight, second and third graders are more likely to be able to read with more independence.
Recommended.
But when Red Fox's canoe is filling up with fish . . . Red Fox has caught half a million fish . . . bear wants to come into the canoe and eat them all. What will happen when Red Fox discovers that his canoe may be a bit too big?
This “I Can Read” book is perfect for beginning readers who are learning to sound out words and sentences. : large print, familiar words, repetitive vocabulary, short sentences, and simple concepts. The target audience is preschool through primary grades, ages four through eight; six through eight, second and third graders are more likely to be able to read with more independence.
Recommended.
June 16, 2009
Great children's book that demonstrates that we can often live with a lot less than we think! Beautiful, humorous illistations.
June 23, 2023
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Nathaniel Benchley, who penned other vivid stories about animals, wrote “Red Fox And His Canoe” in 1964. An Aboriginal asks his Dad for the largest vessel he can build. Meant for small children, each illustration is smiling and introduces a lovely variety of animals. As the boy launches his craft the dialogue is perky, easy to understand, and involves no fear or peril. However the take-away education would apply to a great many grownups. Perhaps it is versatile because basic morals are at our disposal early.
The protagonist, ‘Red Fox’ doesn’t give a reason but thinks the biggest canoe available, would be ideal. Perhaps he wants to carry more fish and on his test paddle, he does gather a much bigger haul than usual. Perhaps he would like to invite the accompaniment of friends, which his humbler solo craft couldn’t muster. What he does collect at the end of one day, is a boatload of uninvited critters. Crowding the owner himself, a cute variety of wildlife notice that off-shore fishing is easier. Constantly adding to the eclectic party, who ‘Red Fox’ can’t chase out, opportunistic individuals seize on an easier way to fish by boating with him to the centre of rivers.
This is a pickle in two ways. We want to help where we can, if we possess a resource others would be grateful to share. I think of folks who own trucks; never short of people needing something hauled. However we ought not take anyone for granted, nor outsource amenities until wear and tear occurs. We must not sacrifice the ability to enjoy our investment; sinking the craft and no one making use of it. It’s a fine line between appearing selfish and reasonable self-defence. This tale itself was fun and wry, never feeling despairing or heavy.
Nathaniel Benchley, who penned other vivid stories about animals, wrote “Red Fox And His Canoe” in 1964. An Aboriginal asks his Dad for the largest vessel he can build. Meant for small children, each illustration is smiling and introduces a lovely variety of animals. As the boy launches his craft the dialogue is perky, easy to understand, and involves no fear or peril. However the take-away education would apply to a great many grownups. Perhaps it is versatile because basic morals are at our disposal early.
The protagonist, ‘Red Fox’ doesn’t give a reason but thinks the biggest canoe available, would be ideal. Perhaps he wants to carry more fish and on his test paddle, he does gather a much bigger haul than usual. Perhaps he would like to invite the accompaniment of friends, which his humbler solo craft couldn’t muster. What he does collect at the end of one day, is a boatload of uninvited critters. Crowding the owner himself, a cute variety of wildlife notice that off-shore fishing is easier. Constantly adding to the eclectic party, who ‘Red Fox’ can’t chase out, opportunistic individuals seize on an easier way to fish by boating with him to the centre of rivers.
This is a pickle in two ways. We want to help where we can, if we possess a resource others would be grateful to share. I think of folks who own trucks; never short of people needing something hauled. However we ought not take anyone for granted, nor outsource amenities until wear and tear occurs. We must not sacrifice the ability to enjoy our investment; sinking the craft and no one making use of it. It’s a fine line between appearing selfish and reasonable self-defence. This tale itself was fun and wry, never feeling despairing or heavy.
August 5, 2015
This is a book from my childhood that my mother was getting rid of; so I grabbed it and absorbed it into my own library. :D Red Fox's canoe is too small for him, so he gets his father to help build a bigger canoe. As he paddles down the river, all the forest animals pile in, as they think there is plenty of space. Hilarity ensues.
October 4, 2012
I have no literary basis for giving this 5 stars. It was from my childhood when my mother would read stories to my siblings and me. 5 stars are given for parents passing a love of reading onto their children.
July 20, 2009
I liked it. I liked when the moose saved the day. The end.
July 26, 2016
Loved the moose and his lines! "Did I do something wrong?" and "It looked like a public canoe to me." Hilarious.
February 22, 2019
It was funny because when the moose stepped in the canoe it broke
April 29, 2023
Fun story about a young Native American boy (referred to as Indian in the story, which we have to remember was written in the 1960s) who longs for a big canoe to go fishing in. When his father, the chief, builds him an adult-sized canoe, the boy sets off but finds himself in a tight spot when a group of bears want to go fishing with him and take over his canoe. And then more animals want to share in the pleasure the boy wanted to experience selfishly. It's kind of an odd story but with an interesting, almost Aesop-like moral in the end. Like, don't wish for more when what you already have is enough, or something like that. My rating - 3/5
February 6, 2024
This book is from 1964.
I love the illustrations, especially the ones done of the animals. They are super cute - the otters, the raccoon, and the moose.
I thought it was very funny that the raccoon wanted to wash a piece of meat, and that the otters were directing them to more fish.
It was kind of ridiculous that they were all trying to fit in the canoe and I think that this would be a really cute book for a child to read.
—-
My favorite line was:
“sorry,” said the moose. “It looked like a public canoe to me.”
I love the illustrations, especially the ones done of the animals. They are super cute - the otters, the raccoon, and the moose.
I thought it was very funny that the raccoon wanted to wash a piece of meat, and that the otters were directing them to more fish.
It was kind of ridiculous that they were all trying to fit in the canoe and I think that this would be a really cute book for a child to read.
—-
My favorite line was:
“sorry,” said the moose. “It looked like a public canoe to me.”
December 28, 2020
Another blast from the past from the in-law's house. Slightly moralistic story about a little Native American boy and his canoe. Not a terrible story... but the language and illustrations were a bit... no longer culturally correct.
August 14, 2023
*Sometimes having the biggest canoe is not the best thing! Sometimes a small canoe is just the right size. Cute book about an Indian named Red Fox who wants a bigger canoe - then he has all sorts of problems when everyone wants to ride.
November 1, 2019
Red Fox gets a little more than he can handle when he asks his father for a bigger canoe. In the end, he is happy to go back to a small canoe. Cute story, I love Lobel's illustrations.
March 16, 2020
A cute read for a child, funny and animal creatures involved. It’s cute.
March 31, 2022
Another fun vintage find from my recent estate sale purchase. Cute story. 4 stars for the illustrations.
July 4, 2025
Birdie likes this one.
September 24, 2012
This was one of two books from my grandson's first ever library check out from school so I loved it. We read Red Fox together and laughed about all the animals who decided to takeaway ride in the canoe with Red Fox.
January 23, 2014
This classic easy to read story is full of fun as Red Fox discovers why the biggest canoe may not be the best idea. Very similar to the newer "One Dog Canoe" by Mary Casanova, a delightfully illustrated picture book.
February 12, 2011
Cute story about a boy, his father and a canoe. I loved the ending!
have 2 copies.
have 2 copies.
February 26, 2014
A childhood favorite that my kids love too!
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November 5, 2013This was actually a funny story. We all enjoyed this one.
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March 31, 2015All by herself!
April 27, 2015
Cute book about a boy and a canoe; too many animals try to ride in it until it bursts apart. Kind of reminds me of the The Mitten by Jan Brett.
July 23, 2015
Adored this book in grade school. Would make a good baby shower gift for both boys and girls.
January 18, 2016
This is a rather charmingly-told and charmingly-illustrated little story, but I would expect nothing less from a Benchley and a Lobel.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews