Author: Benjamin Renner
Illustrator: Benjamin Renner
© Date: 2015 (English Translation 2017 by Joe Johnson)
Publisher: First Second
Pages: 187
Chapters: No
Illustrations: Yes, graphic novel
Publisher Recommended Age: 7-11 years
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No
Summary from Book: Who’s afraid of…The Big Bad Fox? No one, it seems.
The fox dreams of being the terror of the barnyard. But no one is intimidated by him, least of all the hens. When he picks a fight with one, he always ends up on the losing end. Even the wolf, the most fearsome beast of the forest, can’t teach him how to be a proper predator. It looks like the fox will have to spend the rest of his life eating turnips.
But then the wolf comes up with the perfect scheme. If the fox steals some eggs, he could hatch the chicks himself and raise them to be a plump, juicy chicken dinner. Unfortunately, this plan falls apart when three adorable chicks hatch and call the fox mommy.
Note: This review is done from memory. I originally read this a short bit ago.
Page Pig Thoughts: Humor is a funny thing (pun intended). I really think that this book has come through our home previously. And I think that I was unimpressed and said it was very Looney Tunes-esque, but I didn’t find it funny. This time, however, I laughed out loud and super enjoyed this one. Page Pup kept checking to see what part I was on because Page Pup found so many parts were oh so funny. When a book works, I guess it works. And this time around, this one worked and brought lots of laughs.
This one gets Page Pup thumbs up. Page Pup will likely read it again.
Use caution with younger or sensitive readers, this one has violence.
Family Unit: The Big Bad Fox lives with three chicks
Conflict/Social Issues:
- The chickens beat up The Big Bad Fox when he comes into the hen house.
- The Big Bad Fox wants to be fierce and wants to eat the chicks, but he comes to love them. Which makes his deal with sharing the chick eating with the wolf rather awkward.
- The other chicken parents are upset about the troublemaker chicks raised by the fox that are in school with their chicks.
Positive Items:
- While the fox is not intimidating, he was witty enough to outsmart the wolf and escape with the chicks before they were eaten.
- The Big Bad Fox comes to love the chicks and will risk a lot for them. He is even willing to be physically beaten everyday just to have time with them.
- The chicks are not eaten. The fox does not have to leave the chicks behind at the farm.
Items of Interest:
- The pig digs up some turnips for the fox to eat when he is done attempting to get food in the hen house.
- The chickens physically beat and maim The Big Bad Fox.
- The fox gets lessons from the wolf on how to be intimidating, but the lessons don’t work.
- The wolf creates a plan that enables the fox to steal some eggs from the hens. They are going to eat the chicks when they hatch. When the chicks hatch, they think the fox is their mommy. As the wolf and fox wait for the chicks to fatten up, the fox gets attached.
- The guard dog is more interested in napping than doing much else. He does get out a gun to shoot at the wolf if he comes onto the farm.
- The chickens create a Fox Exterminators’ Club and beat up fox dolls/dummies for practice.
- The fox plays a game with the chicks where he runs around chasing them to eat them. Since the fox is so…uh…fierce, the chicks also chase him around and pretend he is the chicken and they are the foxes.
- The chicks come to believe that they are foxes because their mommy is a fox. Yes, the chicks are fierce and the fox is not. Yes, the fox is lucky that he is their mommy and does not have to feel the wrath of the chicks.
- The fox manages to outwit the wolf and sneak off with the chicks before the wolf can eat them.
- The pig and rabbit take pity on the fox and dress him up as a chicken to save him and the chicks from the wolf.
- The chick’s mother finds out that the chicks are from her missing eggs and takes them back as hers.
- The fox attempts to make the chicks accept that they are chicks, not foxes. They are mad and want to go live with the wolf because he would not punish them.
- The chickens wind up physically beating the wolf to chase him off and save the chicks from being eaten.
- The chicks step in to save the fox from being clobbered to death by their chicken mother (she was angry about her eggs being stolen). The chicken agrees to a compromise that allows the fox to set foot on the farm. The fox agrees to essentially be the chickens crash test dummy in exchange for time with the chicks.