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Fantastic Mr. Fox

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Information

Information on identifying editions is from Richard Walker’s “Roald Dahl – A Guide to Collecting His First Editions”.

  • First editions:
    • Alfred Knopf, 1970, USA.
      • Illustrated by: Donald Chaffin
      • To identify: Used a ‘First Edition’ statement and published in a jacket priced at $3.95.
    • Allen & Unwin, 1970, UK.
      • Illustrated by: Donald Chaffin
      • To identify: Used their standard single statement (‘First published in Great Britain in’ followed by the date). Published without a jacket and not priced.
  • Later editions:
    • Puffin, 1974, USA and UK.
      • Illustrated by: Jill Bennett
      • To identify: Published only in soft cover using a single statement and priced at 20p and $0.65.
    • Unwin/Hyman, 1978, UK.
      • Illustrated by: Tony Ross
      • To identify: Lists this publisher, then the first publication and date with Allen and Unwin, then ninth impression. Under that is a copyright date for Dahl and under that ‘illustrations © Tony Ross, 1988 – published with jacket priced at £6.95.
    • Viking, 1996, USA.
      • Illustrated by: Quentin Blake
      • To identify: Used a number line in a jacket that is not priced and lacks a Viking logo on the spine. (See note on Richard’s site…)
    • Knopf, 2002, Canada.
      • Illustrated by: Quentin Blake
      • To identify: Used a number line and a jacket priced at $15.95 and $23.95 (for the Canadian market)
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Important note: From 2022 onwards, Puffin has edited selected Dahl books to remove sensitive language and insert new sentences not written by Dahl. If you would prefer to read the original text, ensure you get a copy published before 2022 or one of the “Classic Collection” published by Penguin.

Description

Someone’s been stealing from the three meanest farmers around, and they know the identity of the thief—it’s Fantastic Mr. Fox! Working alone they could never catch him; but now fat Boggis, squat Bunce, and skinny Bean have joined forces, and they have Mr. Fox and his family surrounded. What they don’t know is that they’re not dealing with just any fox—Mr. Fox would rather die than surrender. Only the most fantastic plan can save him now.

Reviews

  • “Little Private Lives” by Margot Hentoff (The New York Review of Books)
  • “Picture books for the younger set” by Maurice Dunlevy from the August 14, 1971 The Canberra Times – Canberra, Australia (read online)

Fun Stuff

Merchandise

Teacher Ideas

Covers

Penguin Readers Covers

Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. Simplified story texts are combined with beautiful original illustrations for students aged 7 and above.

Afrikaans Covers – Fantastiese Meneer Vos

Bulgarian Covers – Фантастичният господин Фокс

Catalan Covers – El fantàstic senyor Guillot

Czech Covers – Fantastický pan Lišák

Dutch Covers – De Fantastische Meneer Vos

Estonian Covers – Vapustav härra Rebane

French Covers – Fantastique Maître Renard

German Covers – Der fantastische Mr. Fox

Greek Covers – Ο ΑΠΙΘΑΝΟΣ ΚΥΡΙΟΣ ΦΟΞ

Japanese Covers – Subarashiki Tosan Kitsune

Korean Covers

Lithuanian Covers – Nuostabusis ponas Lapinas

Norwegian Covers – Den Fantastike Mikkel Rev

Polish Covers – Fantastyczny pan Lis

Russian Covers – Изумительный мистер Лис

Scots Covers – The Sleekit Mr Tod

Serbian Covers – Fantastični gospodin Lisac

Slovakian Covers – Fantastický pán Lišiak

Spanish Covers – El Superzorro

Vietnamese Covers – Bác Fox tuyệt vời