The story is about a fair maiden named Lady Mary who has two brothers and a lot of lovers, where the most valiant of them, Mr. Fox was a mysterious man that Mary cared for alone more than the others, so much so, she agreed to marry him. When discussing the place where they would live, he discussed the castle, but did not ask anyone she knew to come see it. Shortly before the wedding, Mr. Fox was out on business and she decided to visit his castle, finally she found it. After going through a gate, doorway, up the stairs there was a final warning written, but because she felt she was brave, Mary continued on, finding many bloody skeletons of young ladies! Witnessing Mr. Fox bringing in an unconscious young lady, she witnessed him kill her with a sword! She escaped, but was still in the marriage contract with him, telling him that she had bad dreams and explained it to him, showing him a ring that she found even though he denied it. The story ends with her brothers drawing their swords cutting him into a thousand pieces (Jacobs, 2012, pgs. 20-26).
Although I cannot say that I have read the folklore fantasy surrounding this before, but it is an interesting story to say the least. This selection represents quality folklore with its reflection of cultural integrity and preservation to oral stories while exploring universal themes (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, 2010, pg. 178). All of the artwork is from the Miles Kelly Artwork Bank and darkly, yet richly illustrates the story in beautiful colors, ranging in a style of dark shadowing illustrations to cartoon like pictures.
Questions that I would have the children ask regarding the story would include asking why Mr. Fox used riddles to answer Mary, what message does the story present to the reader, and what do you think would have happened if Mary did not sneak into his castle?
Response-centered project ideas would include a new ending or new chapter exercise where the readers could rewrite the ending of the book or write a new chapter. It is important for the reader to match the writing style of the original story and make sure it makes sense with the story. Second, I would recommend a family tree project, where they could create Lady Mary's family tree, while drawing pictures of all of the brothers, etc. while writing a paragraph explaining who they are and how they are important to the main character (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, 2010, pg. 351).
I would recommend this book and the story of Mr. Fox to anyone that is a fan of folklore and enjoys scarier versions of oral traditions.
References
Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2010). Literature and the Child. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cenage Learning.
Jacobs, J. (2012). Mr Fox. In C. b. Parker, Scary Fairy Tales Little Red Riding Hood and other stories (pp. 21-26). Bardfield End Green, Thaxted, Essex, UK: Miles Kelly Publishing Ltd.
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