Review by Booklist Review
Mr. Fox loves books so much he devours them, and he is quickly banished from the library when librarians soon find chomp marks and slobbery pages. Despairingly, he robs a bookstore and is sent to jail. Deprived of reading material, he decides to write his own to eat. The resulting tome becomes a best-seller, and Mr. Fox has a new life surrounded by books. Once he's famous, Mr. Fox is quietly released from prison, and his criminal record swept under the carpet perhaps not the best message to send to young readers. The witty and wry illustrations, in addition, take a turn for the scatological when they include one of Mr. Fox on the toilet, in abdominal distress due to eating fast-food fliers. But for readers who enjoy quirky, imaginative outings, this is just the ticket.--McBroom, Kathleen Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-Mr. Fox likes books so much, he eats them with a bit of salt and pepper once he's finished reading. He discovers his local library, where he can read and eat as many books as he likes for free. But once the other patrons begin to complain about wet, smelly books with missing pages, the librarian puts a stop to his feeding/reading frenzy and kicks the voracious fox out for good. So Mr. Fox, with a ski mask and tote bag, heads for the local bookstore. "This is a holdup!" he says. "Fill my bag with books right now! If there's any funny business, I'll bite you in the bottom!" But his dinner is short-lived, as an officer arrests him during his seventh course. In jail, Mr. Fox is denied all reading material. After convincing the guard, Mr. Schultz, to bring him paper and pencil, Mr. Fox writes his own 923-page book. Mr. Schultz reads the novel and thankfully makes a secret copy, as Mr. Fox quickly devours the pages. Mr. Schultz is so impressed with Mr. Fox's work, he quits his job, starts a publishing company, and prints Mr. Fox's book. It is a best seller that becomes a hit movie, and Schultz and Fox both grow rich. Bold, colorful illustrations accompany text of varying sizes. Translated from German, this story may reach some of today's readers progressing from series like "Frog and Toad." But the audience for Mr. Fox might be limited. VERDICT A decidedly quirky selection, peppered with puns and a dash of bathroom humor. Mr. Fox is not a typical book lover, but some kids will find his tale entertaining.-Lindsay Persohn, University of South Florida, Tampa © Copyright 2016. 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
This profoundly odd and unexpected little story, with its thick-black-lined and angular mixed-media illustrations, centers on a fox driven to a life of crime because of his (literal) appetite for books. Translated from the German, the text includes a surprising level of detail and subtle humor about the fox's visits to a library and bookstore, his prison stay, and his rise to fame. (c) Copyright 2017. 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
Is it possible to love books too much?Neither a traditional picture book nor one with a controlled vocabulary to support emergent readers, this Canadian import is an illustrated story about extreme bibliophilia. The eponymous vulpine protagonist loves to read and then, as the title suggests, eat his books. When he runs out of reading/eating material, he sells off furniture to secure more, and after some hungry times, he ventures into the library to satiate his hunger. A wily librarian soon discovers his bibliophagic tendencies and bans him from entering ever again, leading Mr. Fox to a life of crime. He steals books from a bookstore but doesnt get away with the theft and so ends up in prison. There, he persuades a guard to supply him with pen and paper and writes a novel. Its delicious. But before Mr. Fox eats his book, the guard reads it, copies it, and decides to publish it. Fame and fortune follow, so when Mr. Fox is freed from prison he's leading a life of luxury with endless books to read and eat. Biermanns text and cartoon-style illustrations work together to humorous effect, the latter heightening the storys absurdity with pictures that expand on each plot point. The prison guard lying on the couch with a bowl of popcorn as the events in Mr. Foxs story unfurl above him is a particularly potent image. A heaping portion of humor for bibliophiles. (Fiction. 8-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
