Review by Booklist Review
Fans of old movies and TV will enjoy the central conceit: the action here is occurring as part of a performance. Kids may not recognize the homages in the opening scene, with the words Beak House wrought into the iron entry gate and the opening text, Of all the suspicious-looking houses in all the deserted woods in all the world, he had to roll up to hers . . . But they'll appreciate the sneaking sense of danger as Egg a little pink-spotted egg rolls up to Foxy's doorstep and is invited inside for a meal, and they'll recognize the familiar folk convention of a predator fattening up a guest for later eating. The gothic-looking art, featuring a setting with patterned-wallpaper backgrounds, ornate black picture frames, a spider dangling from a chandelier, and appropriately dressed characters (Egg sports a black bow tie), fits the tale perfectly. Foxy's comeuppance, when Egg has fattened into something (someone, really) larger than she could have imagined, is satisfying and not too scary.--Foote, Diane Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-Delight is in the details in this wickedly funny picture book. Foxy DuBois gives Egg shelter for the evening, but as a chicken connoisseur, she plots to fatten up her guest and make a tasty meal out of him. Her plans run afowl-sorry, afoul-when Egg cracks open and reveals a sizable, mustachioed alligator named Alphonso hankering for a taste of fox. Children will have fun poring over the spreads to find silly touches like chicken wallpaper, fork and spoon finials on the guest bed, and, in a neat little turn, the silhouettes of a fox on Alphonso's teacup. Smith's art is similar to Lauren Child's, mixing cartoonlike sketches with photographs of patterns and objects. Egg is humorously pictured in a bowtie as he "plays" the piano and then in a nightcap. Alphonso makes an uproarious encore appearance on the endpapers as a member of a chicken showgirl group featured in Foxy's foodie dream. Adults will enjoy reading this book to their youngsters as Smith writes in a wry, ever-so-slightly sinister tone glossed with a chipper fairy-tale veneer, opening with a hilarious homage to Casablanca, "Of all the suspicious-looking houses in all the deserted woods in the world, he had to roll up to hers...."-Alyson Low, Fayetteville Public Library, AR (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In a nifty twist on the usual fox-and-chicken story, where the fox is male and the chicken female, Swift here introduces the charming Foxy DuBois, hair bow perched on her head, while Egg sports a tiny bow tie. Foxy invites Egg into her home, a house where chickens and eggs repeat throughout the dcor from the wallpaper to the bed sheets. Foxy decides that she'd like to fatten Egg up before breakfast, so she feeds him a splendid dinner, and gives him some exercise by playing games like hide-and-seek. Sadly for Foxy, Egg grows tremendously during the night, and inside is a creature that does not fit into her decor at all. Children will love poring over the illustrations to find the many chicken-y details, while adults will enjoy droll touches like the hard-boiled intro ("Of all the suspicious-looking houses...he had to roll up to hers") and the chorus line of chickens on the endpapers. This would make a great story-time pair with Keiko Kasza's The Wolf's Chicken Stew. susan dove lempke (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
With expert comic timing, Smith sets vulpine Foxy DuBois up for a tasty turnabout after a mouthwatering guest comes to visit. When a small polka-dot egg appears on her doorstep, Foxy invites him in ("for a BITE to eat") and then dashes off to the kitchen to contemplate the culinary possibilities. But why settle for just a snack? After whipping up a massive meal of fattening desserts ("Egg wobbled with excitement") Foxy beds Egg down, then retires to a night of eggy dreams in anticipation of a yummy breakfast. Breezily leaving it to viewers to pick up on the absurdity of a faceless Egg capable of happily chatting and chowing down with his salivating hostess, the author/illustrator adds a pinch of melodrama by staging the tte--tte in a Victorian-style house stocked with poultry-themed knickknacks, embellishes Foxy's dreamscape with a leggy feathered chorus line and finally dishes up a double whammy the following morning in the form of a hugely swollen Egg that hatches outwell, not quite the entre Foxy had in mind. The photo-collaged illustrations will remind many of Lauren Child, but the humor is distinct, enhanced by a cinematic introduction that reveals that the part of Egg is played by newcomer Edward L'Oeuf, with Vivien Vixen as Foxy DuBois. Delicious, for all that it's something of a literary hors d'oeuvre.(Picture book. 5-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
