Mr. Fox has a serious problem. He is a consumer
of books. Now you might not think this would be a problem, but not only does he love
to read them, he also eats them. With a little salt and pepper, those heavy tomes
are delicious.
Unfortunately this is a very expensive habit.
When he runs out of money Mr. Fox sells all his furniture to buy books. When
this money is gone, Mr. Fox discovers the library. He visits every day with his
salt and pepper shakers. He licks pages, nibbles edges and devours entire books; leaving library patrons disgusted by the leftovers he leaves behind.
Eventually he is caught by the librarian and
subsequently banned from the library.
For a while poor Mr. Fox is forced to subsist on
newspapers, flyers, and other reading material he finds in recycling bins. It
is very hard on his stomach.
Eventually the desperate Mr Fox resorts to
stealing books. Alas he is not a master thief and ends up in jail where all
books are forbidden. You will have to read the book yourself to find out how clever Mr Fox finds a way to survive.
This is a humorous tongue-in-cheek book with a
message about how to treat books properly. It would be a fun to read at the
beginning of the school year, especially with older readers. I loved the
brightly coloured illustrations and how Fox solved his book devouring problem.
However, it's more like a beginning chapter book than picture book.
I read a
few reviews of this book where people thought the ending gave children the
wrong message. Seriously, I think those people need to give their head shake and get a life.
