Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl

Modern Fantasy
3rd Grade

This is fun and exciting chapter book full of laughter, sneaky characters, and wonderful illustrations. Roald Dahl begins the book by painting a vivid picture of the main characters. There are three farmers in this story Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, who are all trying to protect their farms from a fox that steals their animals in the middle of the night. Night after night they sit and wait for the fox but always miss him, and one night they decide to sit outside of the fox's whole to make sure they catch him, but instead they just get his tail. This frightens the fox, the fox's wife, and their three children. They realize that the farmers will not stop at anything to catch Mr. Fox. The farmers come up with the bright idea that they will just dig the fox out of his hole. So as the farmers are digging with farm machinery, the foxes are digging their hole deeper and deeper.

After days of exhaustion and starvation Mr. Fox has a bright idea. Him and his children will dig their way to Boggis', Bunce's, and Bean's farms to get their food. So the four dig and dig and in the meantime run into other animals that can no longer gather food because of the farmers trying to catch Mr. Fox. Because of this Mr. Fox feels bad and invites all of these animals to a feast at his hole. Sneaky Mr. Fox was able to get the job done and gather enough food from the farms without the farmers ever even knowing.

Dahl leaves children at the end of the book with the picture that the fox is still getting food without the farmers knowing and the farmers are still waiting outside of the fox hole for him to come out.


This is a wonderful book to use to have children create an alternative ending. As a whole class we will read this novel; some of it will be read aloud and other parts students will read on their own. After we have finished reading the book students will write the last chapter over. They will write another ending to the story, other than the one Dahl used. This will allow them to use their imagination. After everyone is finished they will get into groups and share their ending to the story with their peers.