Text/Du Dou Bean
"The Great Fox Daddy" is a children's book that I read with my son. I read, he listened.
Reading the story, I originally wanted to coax him to sleep, but I didn't expect to read it for more than an hour, but he not only did not fall asleep, but the more he listened, the more excited he became, and he jumped up and sang the impromptu song that the fox and the badger sang when they returned with a full load.
I asked him, "What do you think of this Mr. Fox?" ”
He said, "It's amazing! Amazing good dad! ”
Oh, this is the real reaction of the child, without the prejudice in our adult brains, he naturally classified Mr. Fox as a "good father".
This is the characteristic of fairy tales:
There is a wealth of imagination, there is anthropomorphic fantasy, and most importantly, the child likes it.
However, if it only meets these characteristics, "The Great Fox Daddy" is not a classic good fairy tale.
This Ben Roald. The reason why the fairy tales created by Dahl can be classics is because he also has a different place from ordinary people: the choice of themes.
We have too many stories of foxes looking at animals from above. Therefore, in most fairy tale works, the fox is cunning and hypocritical.
For example, the fox who fakes the tiger, the fox who sings for the sake of grabbing meat and deceives the crow, and the fox who can't eat the grapes and says that the grapes are sour.
But the book "The Great Fox Daddy" is ingenious and chooses a different perspective: family affection.
It tells the story of a Mr. Fox who fights three greedy and murderous farmers to feed and protect his family of six.
In the beginning, Mr. Fox risked his life every day to steal one or two poultry from three extremely wealthy farmers in order to support his family.
The three farmers were all extremely miserly, and they decided to unite to eliminate the fox family.
They first ambushed the entrance to the fox's house and wounded Mr. Fox, who was preparing to go out foraging, with a gun, but fortunately Mr. Fox escaped quickly and escaped the first fate.
Later, the three angry farmers found shovels and tried to dig out the foxes. Mr. Fox endured the pain and led the family to dig a hole deeper, escaping the second disaster.
Then, the red-eyed farmers simply drove a huge excavator and dug a small hill into a big pit.
The fox family, on the other hand, used their claws to compete with the excavator's large mechanical shovel, and the three farmers engaged in a life-and-death contest.
After dark, the mad farmers, vowing to put the fox family to death, deployed manpower to besiege the entire mountain, and held a gun at the entrance of the cave, waiting for the hungry fox to come out and die.
The fox family was trapped for three days and three nights, starving and starving, and it seemed that they would not be able to hold on.
At this time, a turnaround appeared: Papa Fox came up with an idea!
With the little foxes, he dug up the farmer Boggis's chicken coop, and finally succeeded, capturing three fat chickens.
He then sent back a little fox to bring back the spoils of war for Mrs. Fox, and informed her to prepare a banquet, and continued to take the children to the farmer Bunce's storehouse and Bean's cellar.
On the way, they meet the badger and badger's sons and learn about the plight of other harassed burrowing animals. So they generously invited these friends to the banquet, and got the help of badger.
Eventually, they managed to reach their destination and got the food they needed.
More than 30 small animals, deep underground, held a grand banquet. And the three farmers, still in the pouring rain, guarded the entrance to the cave, waiting to kill the fox!
It is said that Roald. Dahl was able to create such a fairy tale because of his childhood experiences.
His parents, both from Norway, immigrated to England later. When he was 3 years old, his father died of illness and his last words were that his children would be educated in Britain.
His mother was able to go back to Norway and raise her children with her family, but in order to fulfill her husband's wishes, she chose to stay in England and did her best to raise her children and have a warm and happy home.
And this "The Great Fox Daddy" is exactly what Dahl wants to express his nostalgia for home, respect for his parents, and his view of a perfect family through the affection of the fox family. That is:
A perfect home, a safe haven for amazing parents, supported by affection.
(End of this article)
Have fun reading with your children! I am Du Doudou, the mother of two children, love to read, love code words, welcome to pay attention to me, on the road to reading happy together.