Disposition
Brit Boy:
Well this is a book which I grew up with and I am incredibly familiar with, although I have probably only read it once or twice to the kids I know the story backwards due to an audio cassette which my parents bought my sister and I. We seemed to listen to it on almost every major car journey (in the UK every car journey when you were little seemed major..).
To this day I can remember the song which was used at the start of the tape:
Boggis and Bunce and Bean,
One short on fat one lean,
These horrible crooks,
So different in looks,
Were equally horrible and mean,
Suffice it to say I am really looking forward to revisiting my childhood.
American Girl:
I am very embarrassed to say that I have never read any Roald Dahl books. I am clearly aware of who he is, mainly from his books that have been turned into movies such as Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (to name just a few). I am really looking forward to reading something light after finishing Lolita. A children’s book is just what we need at this stage in our journey!
Editorial
Roald Dahl is an English institution and one of three authors who had a major impact on my childhood, along with Enid Blyton and C.S. Lewis (both of which are on the list) they formed strong memories during periods of voracious reading. To this day they are the only authors who I have read more than once and given their books as gifts. One of the truly amazing aspects of Dahl’s stories is his stunning partnership with illustrator Quentin Blake, this started with Dahl’s first picture book the Enormous Crocodile and he went on to illustrate 17 other books. The pictures showcase Dahl’s imagination greatly and have truly brought the characters to life.
The story itself is fairly simple and short (I comfortably read it in one sitting), but incredibly well written. The story as you can imagine is centered around Mr Fox and his family who are trapped by 3 farmers (Boggis, Bunce and Bean) who are tired of him taking their poultry. Key to the story being the mean-ness of the farmers and the quick thinking / wily Mr. Fox.
I really enjoyed this story, it genuinely made me giggle and gave me more compassion for our neighborhood foxes that have known to get our chickens from time to time. I kept wondering to myself if this book was the groundwork of Brit Boy’s obsession with wanting to start a farm of his own, leaving us with far too many animals to count! I must say I am very glad Brit Boy didn’t fashion himself off of Boggis, Bunce, or Bean because as Dahl describes them they were “as nasty and mean as any men you could meet”.
As I read the book I could still hear the voices and characterization from that story tape all those years ago. I loved this nostalgia trip and when the kids are a bit older I will be getting it out once again and trying to imitate all the voices from my childhood. There is no question that this book deserves a place on the list, it is a piece of kids literary gold.
I agree that this book deserves a place on the list, the only thing I will question moving forward is how it compares to his other books on the list, and if I agree with their “ranking”. Dahl has written “at least 42” books according to trusty Google and I will wonder why 9 made our list but so many others did not. Regardless, this book makes me even more excited for the garage sale find we purchased last summer, a boxed set of thirteen of his stories, for only $2.00! I can’t wait for when our babies get older so that we can share these stories with them.
Distant Bookends 