Fantastic Mr Fox

Buy This Book * More books by Roald Dahl

Boggis, Bunce and Bean are the meanest three farmers you could meet. They are determined to get Mr Fox – but he has other plans!

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• The title of the book includes alliteration? Fantastic Fox. Can you think of any more examples of alliteration? Could you make a story title which includes alliteration and then write the story, e.g. Dangerous Ducks, Gruesome Goats?
• Can you think of any synonyms for ‘fantastic’?
• Look at the illustrations of the characters at the start of the book. Can you write a character profile about each one? What are their personalities like? What have been the most interesting events in their lives so far?
• Imagine that there was one more mean farmer. What is he / she like?
• The children sing a limerick about the three farmers. Can you find out any more limericks? How are they written? Could you write your own?
• Read the play edition of the story and perform it to others in your class / school.
• The farmers were ‘wild with rage’ because Mr Fox kept stealing their property. Can you think of other ways of describing how they felt?
• Retell the story from the point of view of the Rat in Bean’s Secret Cider Cellar.
• Create an invitation which asks the animals to come to Mr Fox’s amazing feast!
• Think of different words that you could use to describe the food and drink at the feast.
• Mr Fox sings a song which includes the line ‘Some cider inside her inside’. Can you think of other words which have two meanings (homonyms)?
• The animals at the feast were ‘ravenous’. Make a list of words that mean the same as this.
• When you have read the whole story, can you create a storyboard to show the main events?
• Watch the film adaptation of the book. How are they similar / different? Why? Watch this video which shows how the creators of the film got their ideas:

Maths

• Plan a feast for a group of people / animals. What food / drink will you need? How much of each will you have? How much might this cost? How much change will you get if you paid with a particular amount?
• Look on a map for a forest and a farm in your local area. What is the distance between them? How far would Mr. Fox and his children have to dig to travel from one to the other? Can you convert this amount into different units of measurement?

Science

• Create a new healthy diet for Mr. Boggis, who only ever eats boiled chickens and dumplings each day.
• Mr Fox used his sense of smell to avoid being caught. Find out about the different senses that people have.
• Learn about the different senses that animals use in the wild.
• Investigate which animals like to live underground and move around by digging. Which animals live above ground? Which animals only live in water? Can you sort these animals into groups?

Computing

• Use some publishing software to create an invitation for Mr. Fox’s feast.
• Use graphical modelling software to plan the seating arrangement at the feast.
• Listen to the audiobook version of the story. Could you prepare, perform and record your own reading, using music and sound effects?
• Watch this trailer for the film adaptation of the story. Could you plan and prepare a trailer for the book?

• Watch this video which shows how they made the film adaptation. Could you make your own stop-motion version of the story?

Design Technology

• Use craft materials to create a new tail for Mr. Fox.
• Design a new machine that might help the farmer to catch Mr. Fox.
• Can you make your own puppets of the characters in the story. Watch this video which gives more information about the puppets in the film adaptation:

Art

• Draw the seating arrangement for the feast. Which animals and family members came along? Where did they sit?

Music

• Compose a tune for one of Mr. Fox’s songs.

Geography

• Draw a map which shows the wood, the farms and the underground tunnels that Mr Fox digs.
• Look on a local map to find the location of farms and woods in your area.
• Find out the environmental impact of machinery digging up the land. How does it affect people and wildlife nearby?

Physical education

• Plan and perform a dance for Mr Fox to perform when he arrives at Boggis’s Chicken House Number One.

PSHE

• The three farmers all swear a ‘solemn oath’. What does this mean? Have you ever made a promise to others? Has anyone promised you anything?
• Think about how the characters feel at different points in the story (e.g. Mr. Fox when he reaches Boggis’s Chicken House Number One, the farmers when they are trying to catch Mr. Fox). Can you draw their facial expressions at each of these events?