Fantastic Mr Fox

by Roald Dahl

Every time Mr Fox steals a chicken from the farm, Farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean grow wild with rage! They're the nastiest crooks in the valley, and they've concocted a cunning plan to dig him out of his hole once and for all. But it never occurs to them that Mr Fox has a fantastic plan of his own...

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, Middle Grade, Animals, Young Adult

82 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 1970

About the author

Roald Dahl was a beloved British author, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter pilot, best known for his enchanting and often darkly humorous children's books that have captivated generations of readers around the world. Born in Llandaff, Wales, to Norwegian parents, Dahl led a life marked by adventure, tragedy, creativity, and enduring literary success. His vivid imagination and distinctive storytelling style have made him one of the most celebrated children's authors in modern literature.
Before becoming a writer, Dahl lived a life filled with excitement and hardship. He served as a Royal Air Force pilot during World War II, surviving a near-fatal crash in the Libyan desert. His wartime experiences and travels deeply influenced his storytelling, often infusing his works with a sense of danger, resilience, and the triumph of the underdog. After the war, he began writing for both adults and children, showing a rare versatility that spanned genres and age groups.
Dahl's children's books are known for their playful use of language, unforgettable characters, and a deep sense of justice, often pitting clever children against cruel or foolish adults. Some of his most iconic titles include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr Fox, and The Witches. These works are filled with fantastical elements and moral undertones, empowering young readers to challenge authority, think independently, and believe in the impossible.
Equally acclaimed for his work for adults, Dahl wrote numerous short stories characterized by their macabre twists and dark humor. His stories were frequently published in magazines such as The New Yorker and later compiled into bestselling collections like Someone Like You and Kiss Kiss. He also wrote screenplays, including the James Bond film You Only Live Twice and the adaptation of Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Despite his literary success, Dahl was a complex and sometimes controversial figure, known for his strong opinions and difficult personality. Nonetheless, his books continue to be treasured for their wit, originality, and the sense of wonder they inspire. Many of his stories have been adapted into successful films, stage plays, and television specials, further cementing his legacy.
Dahl's impact on children's literature is immeasurable. His ability to connect with young readers through a mix of irreverence, heart, and imagination has made his stories timeless. Even after his death, his books remain in print and continue to be read by millions of children worldwide. His writing not only entertains but also encourages curiosity, courage, and compassion.
Roald Dahl's work lives on as a testament to the power of storytelling and the magic of a truly original voice. He remains a towering figure in literature whose creations continue to spark joy, mischief, and inspiration across generations.

Reviews

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book encourages stealing, underage drinking, and living in an underground bunker so you never have to face sunlight again. Recommended!

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GREG!!! YOU ARE OLD!!!! EVEN OLDER THAN LAST YEAR! AND THE YEAR BEFORE!!!

greg's birthday is today, so i am floating this now to remind you that you still have time to shower him with presents!

*****************************

it is greg's birthday!!! and as a treat for him, i am going to create a book review in which i use plenty of pictures of foxes!!! they are his favorite!!

first, a sleepy fox:



a grouchy fox:



a defiant fox:



a hide-y fox:



fox and friends:











bad fox:



chilly fox:


charming fox:



suspicious fox:



mischievous fox:



meditating fox:



super-orange fox:



fox in a tube:



smiling fox:



stretchy fox:



sharp-nailed fox:



log-fox:



hypnotic killer foxes:



and just to keep this relevant:



fantastic mr fox.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GREG!!!

come to my blog!

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

My impressions in a single word: Meh.

I recently read this to my little boy, and I have to admit I really didn't care for it.

Don't get me wrong. It's not a *terrible* book. There's nothing hideously wrong with it. (See my review of Esio Trot, if you want to see me go off on a Dahl book I hated.)

But there wasn't much right with it either. The simple fact was Mr. Fox was not, in fact, very fantastic.

The plot centers around some farmers that try to kill Mr. Fox. They try to dig him out of his hole. Fox's clever solution? Dig down so they can't reach him.

But then the farmers dig *faster.*

Fox's clever solution? They should dig away faster.

Eventually they try to starve Mr. Fox and his family out of the hole.

Fox's clever solution? Dig even farther and steal some food.

And that's pretty much the whole book. (Spoiler alert.)

I like my books to have some cleverness in them. If you have a book where the main character is a Fox, and people are going to praise him for being fantastic, he better... y'know... do something if not fantastic, then at least interesting.

If your clever solution to *every* problem is "Dig more" you're kinda just phoning it in.

Also some mild sexism in here. Nothing horrifying like in Esio Trot, but why read a meh book with mild sexism to your kids? There's better stuff out there. Much better.

[emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you ever need a boost of serotonin, especially in the fall, this book is literally screaming at you to read it.

Plus then you unlock the ability to watch the Wes Anderson film version (because everyone knows you're not legally allowed to watch movies until you read the book), and that's just even more serotonin for you.

It's a life hack.

Bottom line: You're welcome.

[Miranda Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars for the questionable morals and implications for the animal society.

Mr. Fox stole from local farmers for years and the farmers are fed up. They decide to wipe out the entire Fox family. These are talking animals - this is murder.

Instead of trying to negotiate (or even work for a living), the Fox family makes a run for it and they end up endangering all the animal families that live in the hill, the Badgers, the Weasels, the Moles, the Rabbits, etc. Their homes and children are at risk.

So, all the underground dwelling animals get together for a heist. They end up making permanent tunnels to and from the farmer's stores...and creating a completely underground town so they can always live and mooch off the farmers.

Why was the solution to stealing .... more stealing?

Now, in a world where all the animals can talk, think and reason, how can they justify feeding carrots to the Rabbit family while gnawing on the chickens and geese? Aren't rabbits and moles prey for foxes?

I feel like their ideal society is shortly approaching their apocalypse...

YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads

[Julie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was completely unfamiliar with this middle grades chapter book by Mr. Dahl.

My 11-year-old discovered it at her school's book fair, and when I peeked inside and saw the publication date of 1970, I did a happy dance.

Kismet! I read it to my daughter in a couple of nights and added it to my “70 from the 70s” reading project.

Given that it's a book by Mr. Dahl, it was (a) borderline insane (b) greatly enjoyed by my preteen and (c) filled with subtle little sexual tidbits that luckily flew right over the head of my daughter, but landed squarely in my third eye.

Mother and daughter agreed, easily, on four stars. Daughter thinks it's hilarious and asked me to order another 70s Roald Dahl book (I did). Mom thinks Mrs. Fox was really sexy and she wonders about the inspiration for that character.

[Agir(آگِر) · Rating 3 out of 5]

این کتاب را برای آشنایی با دنیای کتابهای کودکان امروزی خواندم
رولد دال نویسنده محبوبی است ولی گاهی نمیتوانستم جلوی خودمو بگیرم
و او را با هانس کریستن آندرسن نویسنده محبوب دوران کودکی ام مقایسه نکنم
راستش از زمین تا آسمان فرق می کنند
شاید داستان های آندرسن مختص کودکان نباشد چون همین الان هم قصه‌هایش متاثرم می‌کند!!!

فرق بزرگی دارند...در داستان رولد دال معجزه زیاد اتفاق می افتد و واقع بینی کمتر است
و وقتی تلاش کنی خیلی زود به نتیجه می‌رسی
شاید این در کشورهای آنورِ آب صادق باشد
ولی در اینجا ما که هرچقد زیر آبی هم رفتیم، نتوانستیم از لانه مرغان آقای باگیس یا دخمه شربت سیب آقای بین و انبار گوشت غاز آقای بانس سر در بیاوریم

[Ahmed Ejaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Mr. Fox is an amazing book for children. Even I, myself, loved Mr. Fox. He is soo clever and determined.

Mr. Fox steels food from three farms own by nasty owners. He steels to keep his family alive. But one day the owners finally decide to kill him once and for all. But Mr. Fox is too clever for them.
His optimism is amazing. I love optimistic characters. I didn't wanna read it. Had to read it for my younger cousin's school work.
Now I am happy that I read it. I highly recommend this book to everyone. Especially children.

August 4, 2017

[فؤاد · Rating 4 out of 5]

چهارمین یا پنجمین رمان از رولد دال که برای بچه‌ها می‌خونم. اگه بچه دارید با خیال راحت براش رولد دال بخونید، می‌تونید مطمئن باشید که کیف می‌کنه.

وس آندرسون هم بر اساسش یه کارتون ساخته که اونم به نوبۀ خودش عالیه.

[Tijana]

(2017)
"Fantastični gospodin Lisac" je možda najbolja početna tačka za upoznavanje dečjih čitalaca s Dalom: nema grozomornih detalja, nema mučnih nagoveštaja, a humor ipak samo pršti, i knjiga (pripovetka, u suštini) oblikovana je kao avion, svrsishodno i aerodinamično. I na kraju lisice nadmudre zle lovce (nije da smo iznenađeni).

(2022)
Nikakvih promena, deca obožavaju Dala i traže još jedno poglavlje i još jedno i još jedno sve dok roditelj ne baldiše.

[Medisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

رولددال خوندن برای داداشم و
دیدن اینکه چقدر دوستش داره خیلی خوشحالم کرد😭

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 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. :)

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge Roald Dahl fan. I love foxes and I loved having a main character that is a fox. It is such a snappy and witty book. This is a great one and I think the movie was wonderful as well. Roald does well on screen. Of course the fox will win.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Fox is great at what he does: providing for his family by stealing from three greedy farmers who hate the sneaky animal with a passion. One day, the farmers had had enough of their goods being stolen by Mr. Fox, so they came together and thought of ways to capture him and put an end to his antics for good. But little do they know how cunning the fantastic Mr. Fox really is…

What a fun story! I am sad to say that I did not grow up reading Roald Dahl’s books, but lucky for me, Libby exists, so I can see what I missed out on. ☺

And apparently, I missed out on a lot because I would have loved this book as a kid. Oh well. Better late than never. 😉

I love stories that anthropomorphize (try saying that word three times 😂) animals, so it’s safe to say that I really enjoyed this book. I will definitely be reading more of Dahl’s books in the near future! 💜

[Dannii Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Updated Thoughts:
Returning to one of my childhood favourites for the second year running, as an adult. Little did I know that I was craving a comfort read in 2019 but would need a horde of them, by 2020!

I spent a pleasant evening immersed in adorable graphic novels and found myself unwilling to return to any of my other current reads, but still in the mood to devour something else heart-warming in nature. Enter: Children's fiction. My eternal saviour for every sort of bad mood and slight reading slump.

Dahl can never do wrong, in my opinion, but this story, with all the trickery and tactics from Mr. Fox, made this a much reread volume, for my younger self, and it seems like nothing has changed over a decade later.

Initial Thought:
Still reminiscing my childhood in 2019 and not regretting a thing.

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short book was a laugh riot. Especially with the way Dahl described the human characters.

[رغد فريحات · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boggis and Bunce and Bean

One fat, one short, one lean.

These horrible crooks

So different in looks

Were none the less equally mean.’

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Fox steals food nightly from one of the three disgusting and gluttonous farmers who have more then they need. The farmers get mad and set out to kill Mr. Fox. They have a hard time catching him, they destroy the earth trying to get him out of his hole, they waste many man-hours by making their workers surround the woods with weapons and ultimately Mr. Fox with the help of other underground animals find another way into the farms and go about their stealing in peace while the farmers sit endlessly waiting to kill the fox and any other animals that pop up from the ground.

This book teaches you that stealing is ok, as long as it is done against evil and wicked people. That's a fine message and one that kids probably won't be exposed to for the first time by reading this book. Basically Robin Hood is that message too, although this seems a little bit more anarchic in it's presentation, maybe it's the drawings, or all the fun the fox has in stealing that makes it seem like a revolution going on that you can dance to.

But is it ok to tell kids that stealing is alright? Yes it is. Children will be taught eventually in school that stealing is perfectly fine, but they will be taught it under the more civilized and devastating guise of capitalism, the rights of corporations over people and the other legalized theft that our society holds up as the makings of success. But am I saying that kids should go out and steal? No they shouldn't. First because most of them are really bad at it and if you are bad at stealing you will get caught, or at least noticed and that's not a good thing. Second because stealing for the sake of stealing isn't good. Stealing can be political and it can be used as a very very weak brick against the wall of capitalism (but really it's more like throwing a feather into a tornado, it's not going to do shit), but it can also just be selfish and unnecessary. I was going to write more, but I'm running out of time before I goto work and see if I can spy any shoplifters, who I will try to have get caught because a) they make my life more difficult, in that I need to then remember what books have numbers off so they can be ordered manually, and a.2) mean that it gives reason for me to get yelled at by some idiot who can't understand just because the computer says we have something doesn't mean we really do (we don't have computers that know when someone has stolen something without our noticing it). And b) because the publishing industry has enough problems right now with money, and it's not as if books aren't available for free at libraries. Go there and get the book for free and read it, B&N might be an big corporation, but as Ralph Nader said, (not an exact quote) "they sell books, and books are a good thing".

So if you're going to go steal, go to some Wal-Mart or something, but watch out they have a wall of video screens in the back room with a small army watching them, just waiting to see you pocket some of their items.

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 2009 Wes Anderson film featuring the voice talents of Bill Murray and George Clooney is a favorite of mine and so I was compelled to visit the original work, the beloved children’s book by the inimitable Roald Dahl.

First published in 1970, this short work describes the machinations of a chicken thief, Mr. Fox.

Perhaps not as urbane as portrayed by Clooney and directed by Anderson, Dahl’s fox is nonetheless fantastic for his ability to outfox messers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean.

Being well acquainted with the film it was fun to see what scenes from the book had been dramatized and I can report that Anderson stayed true to the book while adding some fun details for our viewing pleasure. This then, is the opposite of most novels in that the director added scenes to the film.

Good fun for Dahl fans, aficionados of children’s lit and for Wes Anderson enthusiasts like me.

[Olivia (Stories For Coffee)]

Mr. Fox is 100% a Loki variant.

[Jason Koivu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful! Though I do feel bad for the chickens, ducks and geese.

[Mayke ☕️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another lovely book by Roald Dahl, with the always beautiful illustrations by Quentin Blake.

[William2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Substitute-childhood read.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This morning two new Roald Dahl books arrived and this one was an instant must-read. From a young age on I always adored stories about forest animals (which is why it's even more incomprehensible and outrageous that I have missed out on such a classic until now)!

The book is very thin but the story inside is full of wit, fun and excitement!


Roald Dahl tells the story of Mr. Fox, his wife and children and their tranquil life. However, there are 3 farmers with very bad intentions and since Mr. Fox is trying to save his family, he must be very clever indeed and come up with a fantastic plan - which he does.

The story unfolds in a very thrilling way (not too bloody though, clearly because it's meant for smaller children too) and the author managed to put some moral concepts even in here (in this case it's about stealing and catch & release).
What I especially love is that the author shows a clever fox but not a malicious one. His characterization is entirely amiable (which is not always the case with stories about foxes).

As with the other volumes, this one also features lots and lots of illustrations by Quentin Blake and I think they will never lose their magic.
So if the three farmers haven't died, they are still waiting! *lol*

[Kimmylongtime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Fox

Mr.Fox is like any other fox except he has class. He is fancy but he does need to get out to feed his family. He has 4 hungry children so what does he need?? Food of course !! So our fantastic fox goes and takes a chicken or two. These greedy farmers can spare some but instead they hunt the fox and now he is trapped underground forever. Give this read a try and find out how it all ends. I read this to my son over the course of 3 nights and it was a lovely story.

I’m still thinking of the movie from years ago where they had the cussing with me scene!!

https://youtu.be/iuKNXP9LcSg

Happy reading everyone 😍😃

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it okay to steal sometimes?

Small children would say that no, stealing is wrong. As they get a bit older, books such as Fantastic Mr. Fox will teach them that the world is not quite so black and white, and that yes, it's all right to steal if you're starving, and if the person you're stealing from obviously can afford it and is also really mean.

Grown-ups will (or at least should) understand that it's rather more complicated than even this. But for the time being this lesson is adequate: enough for a child to understand without bogging it down even more. Hopefully no child reading this actually has to put the lesson to practice, though...

I watched the movie yesterday, which led to me picking up the book as well to see whether it would hold up. And it's all right, turns out, though not among Roald Dahl's best: I don't think the narrative or the ingrained lessons are quite as easily enjoyable for adults as they are for kids, while the movie can be watched and loved by everyone. Unless cussing bothers you.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roald Dahl at his best - an oft overlooked story (at least until the film adaptation) this is lots of fun. A great story by Dahl with the usual wonderful accompanying illustrations by Quentin Blake.

Not to be missed.

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3.5 Stars]
My Video Review:

https://youtu.be/cvqL-YGfCxk

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a cute little book! A quick, funny and very enjoyable read. Highly recommend it if you want to dive back into your childhood for an hour or so.

Roald Dahl is famous for a reason!

[•• Nadia •• · Rating 3 out of 5]

تجربه قشنگی بود، تو یکی‌دوساعت با خواهر کوچیک ترم یه نشست کتابخوانی انجام دادیم و نوبتی‌ کتاب برای همدیگه خوندیم، لذت بخش بود و اینکه الان دوست داره بره انیمیشنش رو ببینه برام خوشحال کنندس