SECTION 1 The large quantity of dialogue, combined About the book with the dramatic action, give the narrative Roald Dahl wrote Fantastic Mr Fox long before both a visual and script-like quality and the ban on hunting foxes with dogs was made encourage children to read on with cliffhanger law in the UK. His personification of the central chapter-endings. character and the fox family leaves the reader in Amusing, flippant ‘songs’ in the form of no doubt as to where the author’s loyalties lie. He limericks complement the narrative. skilfully steers his readers to take sides, as he divides his animal and human characters into goodies and baddies, respectively. In his inimitable style, Dahl About the author allows no grey areas except for a brief moral debate Roald Dahl (1916–1990) wrote numerous books halfway through the book, in Chapter 14 where for adults and children. Remembering what ‘Badger Has Doubts’. The author’s persuasive it was like to be a child helped him tap into writing adds sympathetic credibility to the children’s psyche. His own childhood and school character’s argument. It offers memories are recorded in his opportunity for children to autobiography, Boy. examine the techniques used Dahl was one of four to achieve this end and sway children, born in Wales the reader’s sympathy. of Norwegian parents. He The first two chapters of married twice and had five the book introduce the main children. characters in the story almost The author’s somewhat like a cast list in a play. The anarchic viewpoint appeals action begins in the third to children, who recognise chapter when nocturnal Mr the underlying sincerity in Fox, father of a hungry family, his macabre humour. There sets out to steal from one of the is a distinct sense of moral three farmers (Boggis, Bunce justice in his ‘bad’ characters’ and Bean). He dramatically downfall and the triumph of loses his tail after being shot his ‘underdogs’. He recognises by the waiting farmers, who children’s hopes and fears and have grown wild with rage at leads them safely through the repeated thefts. So begins fear to resolution by skilfully a cold war between the unappealingly presented combining real-life situations with pure fantasy. humans and the personified animals. Dahl wrote many of his books from a small The farmers are made to look ludicrous in their hut at the bottom of his garden. He worked with heavy-handed attempts to out the foxes from their illustrator, Quentin Blake, from 1976. underground sanctuary and their subsequent Further information can be found on fruitless attempts to starve out the creatures. As the author’s (animated) official website: they wait with loaded guns, camping out above www.roalddahl.com. the foxes’ hole, Mr Fox, his children and allies – badgers, rabbits and other underground nocturnal Facts and figures animals – carry out his cunning plans to outwit Roald Dahl’s work has been translated into a total the farmers. Far from starving, he and his family of 34 languages. In 1983, his book The Witches manage raids on each farm in turn while the won the Whitbread Award. In 1989, he won the farmers continue to wait and ‘…so far as I know, Children’s Book Award for Matilda. they are still waiting’.
PAGE 3 READ & RESPOND: Activities based 0n Fantastic Mr Fox
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