Hattie and the Fox [Hardcover]

Mem Fox (Author), Patricia Mullins (Illustrator)

Book Description

Hattie the Hen spots danger -- but the goose and the pig and the sheep and the horse and the cow don't seem to care!

Young children will enjoy happy shivers of anticipation as this cumulative tale builds, and they'll be delighted by the final surprise, when everyone sees that what Hattie has been saying is true!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hattie the Hen lives on a farm with the goose, pig, sheep, horse and cow. One day she spots something suspicious in the bushes. She warns the other animals but they are apathetic. More and more of the thing reveals itself until Hattie realizes it's a fox. Her pronouncement turns apathy to frenzy; the cow's loud moo scares the fox away. The animals are so surprised that they remain silent. Readers hope that in the future, Hattie's words will be given more importance by the barnyard animals. Author Fox builds the suspense in this cumulative tale with precise pacing. Mullins uses tissue-paper collage and crayon to create an unusual effect, both fuzzy and comic. The animals whether watchful predator, the lethargic barnyard variety or an alert Hattieare wonderfully expressive and characterized. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Mem Fox is the author of many acclaimed books, including Hattie and the Fox, Time for Bed, Hello Baby! The Goblin and the Empty Chair, Let's Count Goats! the New York Times bestselling Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, and the adult title Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. She lives in Adelaide, Australia. Visit her at www.memfox.net.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers (April 30, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0027354709
• ISBN-13: 978-0027354706
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 10.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #665,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MEM FOX is the author of many acclaimed books, including Possum Magic, Koala Lou, Time for Bed, and, for adults, Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. She lives in Adelaide, Australia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Foxy loxy, March 5, 2006

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hattie and the Fox (Hardcover)

Being a children's librarian is all about trial and error. You think a book is going to make for a good readaloud during your storytime, but then you find that it's either too long or too boring or the wrong age level for your group or any other millions of reasons why you've failed to capture your audience's attention. This situation happens with even the best of authors. It does not happen, however, with Mem Fox. Now obviously you shouldn't go about reading aloud EVERY Mem Fox title you come across. I love, "Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge" but it really is more of a one-on-one book. However, when it comes to books like "Hattie and the Fox" you are in safe safe hands. I was shocked when I discovered that it was not considered one of Fox's best-known book (curse you, Koala Lou!). It should be though. A great use of repetition and a title that knows how to ratchet up the tension, "Hattie and the Fox" takes the old predator v. prey model and gives it a bovine twist.

One day Hattie, the resident big black hen, happens to look up and see a long reddish nose with a black tip sitting in a nearby bush. "Goodness gracious me! I can see a nose in the bushes!". You might think this kind of statement might provoke a bit of interest in the other farm animals, but it apparently does no such thing. The goose says "Good grief!", the pig says, "Well, well!", the sheep says, "Who cares?", the horse says, "So what?", and the particularly blasé cow says, "What next?". Well I'll tell you what next. Next Hattie happens to notice that the nose has been joined by two eyes in the bushes. Again the other animals say their customary responses. Even if Hattie notices a nose, two eyes and two ears in the bushes (she's always careful to say just how many body parts she sees), no one is paying much attention. About the time she gets to, "a nose, two eyes, two ears, a body, four legs, and a tail" she puts two and two together (no more, as needed) and screams out, "It's a fox! It's a fox!". The other animals apparently didn't see this coming and are provoked into a panic. All the other animals, that is, except the cow who lets loose a rousing "MOO!" that scares the fox away. The last two pages show utterly silent animals standing stock still as the text tells us, "And they were all so surprised that none of them said anything for a very long time".

A good readaloud picture book isn't afraid of a little repetition. What's particularly nice about "Hattie and the Fox" is that the tension not only escalates but takes on a kind of familiar series of steps. Mem Fox is doing something rather similar to that old Little Red Riding Hood storytelling technique of, "But Grandma, what big EYES you have" and drawing it out. The contrast between Hattie (who lives in spite of the fact that she doesn't recognize a fox until she sees the tip of his bushy bushy tail), the nonplussed animals, and the fox with dinner on his mind is reflected beautifully in the text. I like to think that any illustrator could have pulled off a nice book with this excellent writing, but Patricia Mullins style using a collage technique of tissue paper and conte crayon works particularly well. Firstly, the colors are marvelous. From the goose's bright blue eye to the red crest atop Hattie's head, the pictures burst with life. I've always suspected that books of repetition like this one must be particularly difficult to make images for. If the words are the same on every other two-page spread, how do you go about distinguishing between them? For Mulins's part, she likes to change her perspective, where the animals actually are, and how they are set up. She even drops in little details like the flies that buzz around the animals' heads. The dark eyebrowed fox for his part is definitely malicious. The only question that remains is why does he wait so long to pounce?

I guess I definitely fell in love with the book when I got to the last two pages. There stand six shell-shocked animals. You can't put a price on the horse's expression. Mister "So what?", has finally been put in his place. The pig also looks particularly appalled but the cow seems almost content. She was, after all their savior. So really, "Hattie and the Fox" has it all. Great reading aloud potential, beautiful illustrations, and a plot kids of many ages can get behind. Rather good stuff.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book to get your child to read on his/her own., January 26, 2000

By 

Kathleen J. Helwig "KJH" (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hattie and the Fox (Hardcover)

This book is great for the 3/4 year old. It's been one of my daughter's favorite since the day we received it. The animal noises are fun, but what seems to keep her interested is the emerging fox from out of the bushes. A year since we've been reading the book, she has it memorized and enjoys reading the book back to me with inflection and anticipation for the fox's arrival. This is a great story time book as well.I've seen it keep 3-5 year olds at the edge of their seat with the right librarian reading the story!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute Gem for inspiring early reading - repetition and anticipation, December 9, 2006

By 

A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hattie and the Fox (Stories to Go!) (Paperback)

A really enjoyable book and great fun for inspiring a love of reading early on. This book is about Hattie, a hen in the farmyard, first she sees a pair of eyes, then two eyes and two ears, two eyes, two ears and a nose - and so on. She tells the other farmyard animals who always react in the same way.

My younger kids (3 and 4) really enjoy this, they can read along and anticipate the story as it is repetitious and builds up great suspense. We can see the fox slowly forming out of the bushes, but the other animals are oblivious to it just going about their novmal business - until the fox comes out of the bushes!

The last picture is priceless, all the animals have been illustrated with enormous eyes literalloy popping out of their heads. My kids just love this book and I am so glad to see it has been reprinted.

The illustrations are vaguely reminiscent of the kind of artwork in the very hungry caterpillar (ERic Carle) but darker colours and more realistic. A truly lovely book and highly recommended.