Though this work is similar in look and tone to typical comic strips (bulging-eyed, caricaturelike characters with exaggerated expressions occasional slapstick violence motion lines), there's a sophistication to the art that recalls the author/illustrator's roots as a celebrated filmmaker and cartoonist. The fox successfully makes off with the eggs, but things get complicated when the chicks emerge and (surprise, surprise!) assume that the fox is their mother. Taking pity on the fox, the wolf proposes playing the long game: stealing eggs and eventually eating the hatched chickens. The titular character lacks gumption, guile, or cunning, and the chickens send him running each time he ventures into the farmyard. A definite add to the shelves.Gr 3–6-The proverbial fox may be a menace to the henhouse-but not the hero of this work. This one’s great for your humor loving readers, your animal fiction fans, and your graphic novel fans. The wolf is dour and narrrow-eyed, but never too harsh for little ones. Benjamin Renner’s watercolors are adorable, giving the characters a soft, cartoony look, with giant google eyes. This book is straight out of Foghorn Leghorn-era Looney Tunes, and I loved every second of reading it.

We see Fox grow as a parent and a character – he never really had it in him to be a bad guy, after all. Parents will get a kick out of this one, too – Fox learns some real lessons in parenting here: he doesn’t get much sleep, and they’re all over him all the time.

This is a laugh-out loud, adorable story for intermediate and middle grade readers. The Fox manages to steal some eggs, and sits on them until they hatch, but the unexpected happens when the chicks think he’s their Mommy – and he ends up falling in love with the little ones! Meanwhile, back at the barnyard, Momma Hen is sick and tired of the lazy barnyard dog who’s supposed to be protecting them, so she gathers a group of hens and forms a Fox Extermination Club!

The chickens beat up on him every time he shows his face, and he’s really getting hungry! Together with the Wolf, the two predators hatch a plan: steal some eggs, wait for them to hatch, then eat the chicks while they’re still young and defenseless! Failproof, right? Sure: for the Wolf, anyway he goads Fox into doing all the work. The Fox really isn’t that big or that bad… at least, no one at the barnyard seems to think so.

The big bad fox benjamin renner