Fantastic Mr Fox

Roald Dahl

45 pages • 1 hour read

Roald Dahl

Fantastic Mr Fox

Roald Dahl

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1970

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Introduction

Before Reading

During Reading

After Reading

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-6

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Reading Check

1. Which two words does Dahl use to describe the farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean?

2. Who is the “cleverest” farmer?

3. How does Mr. Fox select which farm he will visit?

4. Which part of Mr. Fox’s body is damaged in the shooting?

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Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Mr. Fox acquire food every day? How do the farmers respond?

2. What is Farmer Bean’s plan to catch Mr. Fox? Is he successful?

3. What type of shovels does Farmer Bean suggest that he and the other farmers use? What does Mr. Fox do as a result?

4. How do people from the surrounding villages react to the farmers’ plan? What effect does this reaction have on the farmers?

Paired Resources

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Director Wes Anderson’s 2009 film brings Dahl’s novel to life.
This connects with the themes of Greed and Hubris Will Be Punished, The Triumph of the Underdog, and The Importance of Family and Friendship.
Compare and contrast Dahl’s novel with Anderson’s adaptation. Does Anderson’s adaptation stay true to the original text? Why or why not?

“Roald Dahl, Writer, 74, Is Dead; Best Sellers Enchanted Children”

The New York Times’s 1990 article provides a brief overview of Dahl’s popularity as a children’s book writer.
This connects with the themes of Greed and Hubris Will Be Punished, The Triumph of the Underdog, and The Importance of Family and Friendship.
How did Dahl connect with children audiences?

CHAPTERS 7-12

Reading Check

1. What oath do the three farmers make with each other?

2. What does Farmer Bean suggest to do with the 108 men?

3. How long does the “waiting game” last?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do the three farmers camp out next to Mr. Fox’s hole? What is their strategy?

2. What is Mr. Fox’s new plan? Why does he choose not to reveal it to his children?

3. Whom do Mr. Fox and the Small Foxes meet while digging? What do they learn from them?

Paired Resources

“Fantastic Mr. Fox Lesson Plans”

Roalddahl.com shares a plethora of teacher-centered resources for Dahl’s novel.
This connects with the themes of Greed and Hubris Will Be Punished, The Triumph of the Underdog, and The Importance of Family and Friendship.

“Roald Dahl and the Darkness Within”

BBC discusses the serious elements of Dahl’s novels.
This connects with the themes of Greed and Hubris Will Be Punished, The Triumph of the Underdog, and The Importance of Family and Friendship.
How does Dahl incorporate serious topics and life lessons within his texts? In which ways is Fantastic Mr. Fox an example of serious content?

CHAPTERS 13-18

Reading Check

1. With what does Badger help Mr. Fox?

2. Where is the second location that Mr. Fox and his group visit?

3. Who are the guests that the Fox family will have over for dinner?

4. How does Mr. Fox describe the beings living below the earth?

5. What does the woman want as a “souvenir” from Farmer Bean?

6. What does Mr. Fox say that the tunnel “means” for his family and the fellow diggers?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do the Small Foxes request carrots? What is Mr. Fox’s initial response, and then how does he change his answer?

2. What does Badger accuse Mr. Fox of doing? How does Mr. Fox justify his actions?

3. Where is the third location that Mr. Fox and his companions visit? Which unexpected visitor do they meet there?

4. How do Mr. Fox and his companions almost get caught? What happens in the cellar?

5. What special event does Mr. Fox host at his abode? Who attends, and what is the mood of the event?

6. How does Mr. Fox’s final statement relate to the actions of the farmers in the last chapter?

Recommended Next Reads

The BFG by Roald Dahl

Dahl’s 1982 novel centers on the relationship between eight-year-old Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant (BFG), who—unlike the other giants—chooses not to eat children.
Shared themes include The Triumph of the Underdog and The Importance of Family and Friendship.
Shared topics include children’s literature and fantasy stories.
The BFG on SuperSummary

Aesop’s Fables by Aesop

Aesop’s collection of stories are in the forms of parables that express a moral opinion.
Shared themes include Greed and Hubris Will Be Punished, The Triumph of the Underdog, and The Importance of Family and Friendship.
Shared topics include allegories, personification of animals, and morality through literature.
Aesop’s Fables on SuperSummary

Reading Questions Answer Key

CHAPTERS 1-6

Reading Check

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1. “[N]asty and mean”(Chapter 1)

2. Farmer Bean (Chapter 1)

3. “[W]ith the wind blowing in his face” (Chapter 2)

4. His tail (Chapters 3-4)

Short Answer

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1. Mr. Fox, who lives in the woods nearby with his family, steals food every day from the farmers—Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. The farmers despise having food stolen from them, and every night they try to catch the culprit. (Chapter 2)

2. Farmer Bean devises a plan to catch Mr. Fox by hiding outside the perpetrator’s foxhole without the wind blowing their scent. The three farmers wait patiently; however, when Mr. Fox leaves for his nightly theft, he is able to spot the farmers and run back inside the hole without being caught. (Chapter 3)

3. On the second attempt, Farmer Bean suggests they try to use mechanical shovels in order to locate Mr. Fox and his family. As a result, Mr. Fox and his family begin to dig more underground. (Chapters 5-6)

4. The more the farmers use the mechanical shovels, the farther the foxes dig. This causes the entire hillside to look like a “crater” after several hours of digging. People from surrounding villages see the destruction and laugh at the farmers for their plan, but “this only made the three farmers more furious and more obstinate and more determined than ever not to give up until they had caught the fox.” (Chapter 6)

CHAPTERS 7-12

Reading Check

1. “[A] solemn oath that they would not go back to their farms until the fox was caught” (Chapter 7)

2. “[S]urround the hill” so the foxes cannot escape (Chapter 8)

3. “For three days and three nights” (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. The three farmers camp out next to Mr. Fox’s hole because they want to make sure he cannot leave to get food. In an effort to taunt the family, Farmer Boggis brings a chicken for the foxes to smell. (Chapter 8)

2. After three days with no food or water, Mr. Fox develops a secret plan for him and the children to continue to dig a tunnel. He does not tell the Small Foxes their destination because he wants it to be a surprise. Upon reaching their destination, the Small Foxes discover it is Boggis’s Chicken House Number One, where the family steals several chickens for dinner. (Chapter 10)

3. Rejuvenated from their success of finding Farmer Boggis’s chicken house, Mr. Fox and the Small Foxes begin to dig once more, when they run into Mr. Badger and his son Small Badger. The Badgers report to the Fox family that the other digging animals are trapped in the hill with no food due to the chaotic situation outside. As an apology for the disruption, Mr. Fox invites all of the animals to a “feast.” (Chapter 12)

CHAPTERS 13-18

Reading Check

1. Digging the tunnel (Chapter 13)

2. Bunce’s Mighty Storehouse (Chapter 13)

3. “[T]he Badgers, the Moles, the Rabbits and the Weasels” (Chapter 13)

4. As “decent peace-loving people” (Chapter 14)

5. Mr. Fox’s tail (Chapter 16)

6. “It means that none of us need ever go out into the open again!” (Chapter 17)

Short Answer

1. While in Bunce’s Mighty Storehouse, one of the Small Foxes requests carrots. Mr. Fox tells his child not to be a “twerp.” However, the Small Foxes remind their father that the carrots are not for them but for the rabbits, to which Mr. Fox replies, “What a thoughtful little fellow you are! Take ten bunches of carrots!” (Chapter 13)

2. As they dig their way to the third location, Badger asks Mr. Fox if he worries about “stealing.” Mr. Fox justifies his actions by pointing out that they are taking only enough to “keep [them] and [their] families alive.” (Chapter 14)

3. For their final location, Mr. Fox leads his companions to Bean’s Secret Cider Cellar. While there, they encounter Rat, who chastises them for indulging in too much cider. (Chapter 15)

4. After their encounter with Rat, Mr. Fox and his companions hear “a huge woman” coming down the stairs for some of the cider in the cellar. They hide behind the very bottles that she goes for, but they manage to stay concealed until she leaves, and then take one bottle each before fleeing. (Chapter 16)

5. Mr. Fox hosts a feast for the Fox, Badger, Mole, Rabbit, and Weasel families. With 29 animals in attendance, the feast is a joyous occasion, with much praise for Mr. Fox’s quick thinking to save the families from the farmers. (Chapter 17)

6. Mr. Fox announces that the “diggers” can now use the underground system for food, therefore none of them need to go out again. This final statement relates to the actions of Farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, because they continue to wait outside in order to catch Mr. Fox, unaware that he no longer needs to leave. (Chapters 17-18)