The Fox and the Hen

by Éric Battut

Fox and the Hen

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Storytime, Childrens, Juvenile, Friendship

32 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2010

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gullible hen's barnyard buddies try to outfox a hungry fox in order to get back a precious egg.
My sympathies lie with the fox in this story.

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute trickster tale, about a hen who regrets trading her first egg to a fox for a juicy worm. The other animals offer things in trade for the egg, but are refused until Henrietta comes up with the successful trade herself. The one thing that doesn't seem to fit is the pig offering marmalade.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another story about another dumb chicken.

[Asho · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book F (3) picked out from the public library in our new town. She must have liked it a lot, because she asked both me and her dad to read it to her many times. She was very intrigued/concerned by the idea that the hen gave up her egg because she just didn't know it was precious. ("But she shouldn't have done that!" she would tell us.) She also liked explaining to me how each animal made the item it wanted to trade to Fox (although we were both puzzled by why the pig made marmalade...better than bacon, I guess!).
At first I wasn't sold on the illustrations since they're all in a sort of muted orange color palette, but they grew on me after the second or third reading and I enjoyed that you could see the brush strokes.
Overall I think she demonstrated good taste in finding this book appealing!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hen lays an egg and has no idea what it is. Unfortunately, she trades it to Fox for a worm. Other animals go with her to try to trade it back from Fox, but all he wants to do is eat the egg. Great ending! I enjoyed the illustrations.

[TJE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun new fable

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 3 yo. daughter picked this book out at the library and, once I had read it to her, became intently focused on it. I wasn't sure why. It may have been the book's illustrations, done in lovely hues of orange that evoke the warmth of summer evenings. It may be the simplicity of the illustrations, which are as spare in design (hen, egg, fox) as they are lush in color. It may be the repetition of the tale, or even the classic storyline: the fox tricks the hen out of her egg, and she wants to get it back. Even if we didn't later see the egg crack open to reveal a chick, my daughter knows that egg is special, too special to be traded for a measly old worm. She may also have intuited from other stories that the fox is a Trickster, and that no deal he makes is a fair one. The hen, to her credit, tries the aboveboard, direct approach--many times!--with the fox, offering him equal trades in the form of wool and cheese for the egg. However, when all her attempts fail, the hen realizes that the only way to best a Trickster is by becoming a trickster herself. Thus the hen learns a bit of cunning in the process, as well as a newly-found appreciation for her precious eggs, and the reader gets the satisfaction of seeing the fox fooled at last.

[Jenny Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age:
Grades K-3

Genre:
fable/folktale

Diversity:
Value of family; respect

Illustrations:
The illustrations are created with acrylic paints.

Personal response:
I truly enjoyed this book. The story had repetition that would be great to use as a read aloud with younger children. The illustrations are beautiful and supports the story. The end of the book is cute and clever.

Curricular or programming connections:
This book would be good for a discussion on eggs with younger children for a science lesson.

[Inna Nako · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade K-2, Life cycles of organisms, Differences in groups of organisms (Parents and offspring)

-this book is about a hen who gives away an egg that she laid without knowing what it was, that it is special; now she must find a way to get it back
-describes many animals as well as what they produce
-this can be used to introduce a science lesson on animals and their products
(cows:milk, goat:cheese, sheep:wool, etc.)

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent fable with a repetitive theme as a young hen foolishly gives up her first egg to a crafty fox, and her attempts to get it back. Helping her are a number of other animals on the farm. The illustrations are interesting, strongly hued in deep oranges and heavily-lined characters. The denouement is a bit anti-climactic, leaving readers somewhat underwhelmed.

[Christine Ridout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many children’s books revolve around mix-ups of young animals with the wrong parents. In “The Fox and the Hen,” Hen gives her freshly laid egg away to Fox. Too late, she realizes she should not have done that so she determines to get it back–but this is not easy because Fox is a wily old creature. Hen finally tricks Fox and gets her egg back. The children loved the story.

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kind of humor! Way to go birds to outfox the fox!

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever. I loved the artist's limited, warm palette.

[Stacia Leigh]

My sympathies were with the fox.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and clever story! I do feel bad that she did get a worm from fox which was an even trade. It was not his fault that she did not know the value of her own egg. Poor fox.

[Malissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great repetitious story.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um... I didn't really love this book very much. Parts of it were clever, and the illustrations were quite good, but the overall story was lacking.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for storytelling!

[Erin Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made me chuckle.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Storytime possibility (Fox, Egg, Chicken, Animals...)

[dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the fun way the hen outsmarts the fox!