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Fox and Hen #1
Η αρπαγή της κότας
Μέσα στο δάσος ζει μια παρέα ζώων: μια αρκούδα, ένας λαγός, ένας κόκορας, κότες και κοτοπουλάκια. Ένα πρωί, όμως, μια αλεπού αρπάζει μια από τις κότες! Οι τρεις φίλοι της τρέχουν πίσω τους για να την σώσουν. Μετά από αρκετή καταδίωξη, τελικά τους φτάνουν αλλά τότε διαπιστώνουν ότι τα πράγματα δεν είναι όπως ακριβώς νόμιζαν... Κύριο γνώρισμα του βιβλίου είναι οι ανατροπές. Η ιστορία δεν έχει καθόλου κείμενο και η αφήγηση γίνεται μόνο με την εικονογράφηση. Ήδη από το εξώφυλλο ο αναγνώστης γνωρίζει και τον δράστη και την υπόθεση: την κότα κλέβει μια αλεπού -προφανώς για να την φάει- και οι φίλοι της τρέχουν να την βοηθήσουν. Στο τέλος, όμως, η συγγραφέας κάνει μια έξυπνη ανατροπή της κλασικής αυτής ιστορίας, για την οποία ωστόσο προετοιμάζει σταδιακά τον αναγνώστη με μικρές εικονογραφικές λεπτομέρειες. Η "Αρπαγή της κότας" είναι μια αλληγορική, πολυεπίπεδη ιστορία για την υπέρβαση των στερεοτύπων (χαρακτήρων, σχέσεων, συμπεριφορών), το δικαίωμα της επιλογής αλλά και την δύναμη της αγάπης. Σε ένα πρώτο επίπεδο ανάγνωσης, ανατρέπονται τα γνωστά από τα παραμύθια στερεότυπα για τα ζώα που πρωταγωνιστούν: - Η σχέση αλεπούς-κότας δεν είναι εκείνη θηρευτή-θηράματος αλλά μια σχέση αγάπης. - Η κότα φαίνεται αρχικά ευάλωτη και άβουλη αλλά τελικά αποδεικνύεται ότι δεν είναι -κουτορνίθι, σύμφωνα με την κυρίαρχη αντίληψη: και άποψη έχει και τολμηρές επιλογές κάνει και ξέρει να τις υπερασπίζεται! - Η αλεπού, κόντρα επίσης στην κυρίαρχη εικόνα που την θέλει πονηρή και πεινασμένη να κλέβει κότες για να τις φάει, εδώ την κλέβει από ...αγάπη και είναι μαζί της τρυφερή και προστατευτική. - Η σύνθεση της υπόλοιπης παρέας (αρκούδα, λαγός και κόκορας) είναι επίσης απροσδόκητη και ασυνήθιστη: παρά τις διαφορές τους (σωματικές, διατροφικές, ηθολογικές, βιότοπου) συνυπάρχουν, συνεργάζονται και αλληλοσυμπληρώνονται. Δείχνουν πίστη στην -παράξενη- φιλία τους (και μεταξύ τους και προς την κότα), ομοψυχία μπροστά στον "κοινό εχθρό", κατανοούν και αποδέχονται την επιλογή της φίλης τους. Σ' ένα δεύτερο επίπεδο, η συγγραφέας θέλει να δείξει ότι τα πράγματα δεν είναι πάντα όπως φαίνονται και τίποτα δεν θα πρέπει να θεωρείται μονοδιάστατο και δεδομένο. Κάθε ανατροπή στην ζωή αποτελεί ένα βήμα σε μια πορεία εξέλιξης, γεννά νέες προσδοκίες -μπορεί και φόβους- αλλά τελικά φέρνει και νέες ισορροπίες. Το μήνυμα του βιβλίου είναι η αμφισβήτηση των στερεότυπων, η απόρριψη των προκαταλήψεων, η αποδοχή της ετερότητας και η αντιμετώπιση της ζωής με πνεύμα ανοιχτό στο διαφορετικό και το απρόβλεπτο με ό,τι εν δυνάμει αυτό φέρει. Ακριβώς επειδή δεν υπάρχει κείμενο, το βιβλίο απευθύνεται σε μεγάλο φάσμα ηλικιών: από παιδιά του νηπιαγωγείου και του δημοτικού έως και εφήβους. Κάθε παιδί (ή και έφηβος/έφηβη) θα αποκωδικοποιήσει την ιστορία και το μήνυμά της με διαφορετικό τρόπο, ανάλογα με την ηλικία του, την φαντασία, τις προσλαμβάνουσες παραστάσεις και τις εμπειρίες που έχει.
26 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
5 people are currently reading
451 people want to read
About the author
Béatrice Rodriguez
62 books8 followersBéatrice Rodriguez received her degree from the School of Decorative Arts in Strasbourg. Today she is a successful and prolific illustrator, creating children's books as well as illustrations and cartoons for the press. She lives in France. She is the author of The Chicken Thief, one of the widely acclaimed and strongly-supported best books of 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews
November 6, 2025
Oh no, not another fox in the henhouse type of children's story, I was originally and also with a bit of frustration thinking regarding Béatrice Rodriguez' 2005 wordless picture book The Chicken Thief (which I found and read on Open Library). And just to point out that albeit I am generally not really all that much a fan of wordless picture books, Rodriguez' colourful artwork for The Chicken Thief is descriptively detailed, is both aesthetically enchanting and also tells a visually easy to follow story that does not ever require written words, so that yes and surprisingly so, Béatrice Rodriguez' wordless storyline for The Chicken Thief has been massively enjoyable to and for me, and in particular for my inner child. But indeed, after the first few pages of The Chicken Thief I was still kind of wondering if The Chicken Thief would simply be a story of the absconded with by a fox white chicken being rescued by her friends (a hare, a rooster, a bear), that is until I realised how the fox in The Chicken Thief is depicted by Rodriguez as actually holding the white hen lovingly and very much sweetly, tenderly, that the hen is equally very quickly is shown as in fact very much enjoying the fox's company, playing checkers with him, having a shared meal with him, and that I have definitely and most pleasantly been surprised how The Chicken Thief has as an ending of fox and hen staying together as a couple and the three friends, the hare, rooster and bear also accepting this gracefully and returning home by themselves. And whether The Chicken Thief concludes with the fox and the hen being friends or lovers is not really made clear but that I for one do not at all care and am just enjoying a wordless story where the fox and the chicken are (or at least) end up being on friendly terms and where the fox does not nab the hen in order to eat her but in order to be friends with, in order to have a loving and tender relationship with her (and that this is also accepted and even appreciated by both the chicken but also by the so-called rescuing party).
Béatrice Rodriguez's pictures for The Chicken Thief are absolutely visually lovely (and as already mentioned above, they also do not really need a written text either), the for and to me also nicely positive and optimistic inverted animal tale (of turning the traditional fox in the henhouse theme and motif not only on its head but also very clearly making the fox not into a villain and also not into a predator bent on eating chickens in order to survive and instead taking the hen in order to be friends with and have a clearly lovingly tender relationship with her, yes, this makes both my inner child and adult I hugely smile). And furthermore, I am also not going to go down into that weird and warped rabbit hole of considering especially the ending of The Chicken Thief being problematic and inappropriate (honestly, does everything have to be malfeasance and Rodriguez's story supposedly Stockholm Syndrome), that for me The Chicken Thief is a tale of friendship, of love and that at the ending of The Chicken Thief fox and hen happily living together and as such also very much enjoying each other's company, this is just lovely and sweet (and thus a solidly five star rating for The Chicken Thief and that I must indeed kind of chuckle bit derisively at the reviews that are kind of ranting and raving).
Béatrice Rodriguez's pictures for The Chicken Thief are absolutely visually lovely (and as already mentioned above, they also do not really need a written text either), the for and to me also nicely positive and optimistic inverted animal tale (of turning the traditional fox in the henhouse theme and motif not only on its head but also very clearly making the fox not into a villain and also not into a predator bent on eating chickens in order to survive and instead taking the hen in order to be friends with and have a clearly lovingly tender relationship with her, yes, this makes both my inner child and adult I hugely smile). And furthermore, I am also not going to go down into that weird and warped rabbit hole of considering especially the ending of The Chicken Thief being problematic and inappropriate (honestly, does everything have to be malfeasance and Rodriguez's story supposedly Stockholm Syndrome), that for me The Chicken Thief is a tale of friendship, of love and that at the ending of The Chicken Thief fox and hen happily living together and as such also very much enjoying each other's company, this is just lovely and sweet (and thus a solidly five star rating for The Chicken Thief and that I must indeed kind of chuckle bit derisively at the reviews that are kind of ranting and raving).
March 22, 2018
بدون کلمهای، داستانی رو روایت میکنه که چشمانت رو نوازش میدن...
January 29, 2013
Someone please explain this book to me. It is so bizarre!
My son brought this book home from his school library yesterday. When I opened it and saw there were no words I thought "Oh cool, we can make up the story as we go along". We used to love reading Good Night, Gorilla. So I "read" it to myself, and I realized I had no idea what was supposed to be happening in this crazytown book.
When it came time to read this book with my son I told him there were no words so he could just look at the pictures and tell me what he thinks is happening. My son: "I don't know what is happening". I don't either.
So I tell my son the very disturbing story that is The Chicken Thief. A fox comes into a backyard gathering of animal friends and nabs a chicken. The fox goes running through the woods with the hen all the while closing her beak so she can't scream out. The chicken's friends go off chasing after the fox to save the chicken. A couple of days go by (and pages of increasing weirdness) until the chicken and the fox wind up falling in love in the oddest display of children's literature what the fuckery I've seen since reading Love You Forever.
I tried to make this story cute for my kid last night, but today I feel the overwhelming urge to make double sure my son knows it is not OK to be abducted. What kind of picture book is this?
My son brought this book home from his school library yesterday. When I opened it and saw there were no words I thought "Oh cool, we can make up the story as we go along". We used to love reading Good Night, Gorilla. So I "read" it to myself, and I realized I had no idea what was supposed to be happening in this crazytown book.
When it came time to read this book with my son I told him there were no words so he could just look at the pictures and tell me what he thinks is happening. My son: "I don't know what is happening". I don't either.
So I tell my son the very disturbing story that is The Chicken Thief. A fox comes into a backyard gathering of animal friends and nabs a chicken. The fox goes running through the woods with the hen all the while closing her beak so she can't scream out. The chicken's friends go off chasing after the fox to save the chicken. A couple of days go by (and pages of increasing weirdness) until the chicken and the fox wind up falling in love in the oddest display of children's literature what the fuckery I've seen since reading Love You Forever.
I tried to make this story cute for my kid last night, but today I feel the overwhelming urge to make double sure my son knows it is not OK to be abducted. What kind of picture book is this?
April 25, 2010
Are the Europeans better than we Yanks are at wordless picture books? Or are they just less afraid to publish them? Remember that when someone like David Wiesner publishes a wordless picture book, like Flotsam, he gets showered in big shiny gold medals. Generally speaking, however, wordless picture books aren't as common as all that in the American marketplace. Plus, to make a book without words and only pictures requires a deep and abiding knowledge of visual storytelling. And since America is still slow to grasp the implications behind graphic novels and panel-related story fare, the Europeans plunge onward, producing books like Beatrice Rodriguez's charming and very French The Chicken Thief. An epic cross-country chase, this book reads like The Bremen Town Musicians meets The Fugitive.
On a beautiful day a rabbit, fox, rooster, hens, and chicks all wake up to start the day. Unbeknownst to them, a hungry fox is lying in wait. Then, when no one expects it, he grabs the white chicken in his paws and the race is on. Rooster, bear, and rabbit pursue the two through woods, over mountains, and across a wide sea. When at last the three confront the fox in its own home, the hen rushes to his defense and explains that the two have fallen in love. Everyone settles down for a nice bit of soup and the next day the three set off, waving goodbye to the fox and his new fowl love.
There is a bit of Stockholm Syndrome to the story, granted. The chicken is initially stolen for her plump deliciousness, that much seems clear. It's only over the course of her escape with the fox that the two seem to bond and fall in love. They play chess together. They enjoy a sunny day in a boat (the chicken having somehow acquired sunglasses). One could argue that had the bear, rabbit, and rooster not pursued the two as closely as they did, these two would not have had time to fall in love and the chicken would have expired as early on as page ten. So I suppose that could be a concern, but since we're talking about foxes (which do eat chickens after all) and the power of love conquering the power of nature, I'm not particularly perturbed by whatever lesson you want to read into all this. If you want to be disturbed by it, all power to you. For my part, I love the surprise ending and ways in which we hear about the fox and chicken's burgeoning relationship.
The pictures themselves appear to be pen-and-ink colored in with watercolors. And there's always a tiny detail to spot on every two-page spread. Did you notice the arrows showing the path the fox and chicken took to get out of the mountain? Or the badminton racquets and shuttlecock sitting on the fox's hearth at the end of the tale? Did you spot the very French café chairs the rabbit and bear sit in while having their incredibly French breakfast at the story's start? Or what about the dejected rooster at the end, utterly crushed by the fact that the chicken prefers the fox's charms to his own (I don't know what he's complaining about since he CLEARLY has two hens waiting for him at home anyway). You could spend hours finding every last little detail in this book, and there would still be more to find.
Consider now the shape of the book. Author/illustrator Mo Willems has a great talk that he gives where he draws your attention to the shape of his individual picture books. Sometimes these books are tall and skinny. Sometimes they're perfectly square. And sometimes they are long and thin. Rodriguez's book is long and thin, which is perfect for a story that is essentially one long chase sequence. Images will sometimes take up two full pages, giving you a wonderful sense of the movement and energy in the story. Other times, you get two-page spreads that mess with your sense of perspective. The fox might be sleeping in a tree close to the reader on the far right page. Then, though we tend to read left to right, the eye moves back to the left-hand page where you can make out the other characters in a tree farther away. The choice to make the page on the right near and the one on the left far keeps readers active and energized. You are inclined to always find the fox first on these pages, then double back to see what the other animals are doing. It goes against your natural reading patterns.
Moreover, a wonderful job is done in breaking up the images so that they don't all blend together. In the first two page spreads the picture on the left-hand side of the page is surrounded in a white border. On the right-hand page, the image bleeds all the way out to the edges. Rodriguez isn't afraid to play with borders and panels. One suspects that she has done more than her fair share of comics in the past.
Once in a while a parent or teacher will ask for a list of recommended wordless books. Sometimes these are useful for kids who want to read books but haven't learned how to read yet. Other times they're good for kids who are new to the country and want to read something, but haven't grasped the English language quite yet. And then there are other times when you just want to teach a kid what it's like to tell a story in pictures rather than words. From here on in I will be recommending The Chicken Thief to those already existing fans of Regis Faller's The Adventures of Polo or The Boy The Bear The Baron The Bard by Gregory Rogers. Fun with a twist ending, this is one of the lovelier picture book offerings of the year.
Ages 4-8.
On a beautiful day a rabbit, fox, rooster, hens, and chicks all wake up to start the day. Unbeknownst to them, a hungry fox is lying in wait. Then, when no one expects it, he grabs the white chicken in his paws and the race is on. Rooster, bear, and rabbit pursue the two through woods, over mountains, and across a wide sea. When at last the three confront the fox in its own home, the hen rushes to his defense and explains that the two have fallen in love. Everyone settles down for a nice bit of soup and the next day the three set off, waving goodbye to the fox and his new fowl love.
There is a bit of Stockholm Syndrome to the story, granted. The chicken is initially stolen for her plump deliciousness, that much seems clear. It's only over the course of her escape with the fox that the two seem to bond and fall in love. They play chess together. They enjoy a sunny day in a boat (the chicken having somehow acquired sunglasses). One could argue that had the bear, rabbit, and rooster not pursued the two as closely as they did, these two would not have had time to fall in love and the chicken would have expired as early on as page ten. So I suppose that could be a concern, but since we're talking about foxes (which do eat chickens after all) and the power of love conquering the power of nature, I'm not particularly perturbed by whatever lesson you want to read into all this. If you want to be disturbed by it, all power to you. For my part, I love the surprise ending and ways in which we hear about the fox and chicken's burgeoning relationship.
The pictures themselves appear to be pen-and-ink colored in with watercolors. And there's always a tiny detail to spot on every two-page spread. Did you notice the arrows showing the path the fox and chicken took to get out of the mountain? Or the badminton racquets and shuttlecock sitting on the fox's hearth at the end of the tale? Did you spot the very French café chairs the rabbit and bear sit in while having their incredibly French breakfast at the story's start? Or what about the dejected rooster at the end, utterly crushed by the fact that the chicken prefers the fox's charms to his own (I don't know what he's complaining about since he CLEARLY has two hens waiting for him at home anyway). You could spend hours finding every last little detail in this book, and there would still be more to find.
Consider now the shape of the book. Author/illustrator Mo Willems has a great talk that he gives where he draws your attention to the shape of his individual picture books. Sometimes these books are tall and skinny. Sometimes they're perfectly square. And sometimes they are long and thin. Rodriguez's book is long and thin, which is perfect for a story that is essentially one long chase sequence. Images will sometimes take up two full pages, giving you a wonderful sense of the movement and energy in the story. Other times, you get two-page spreads that mess with your sense of perspective. The fox might be sleeping in a tree close to the reader on the far right page. Then, though we tend to read left to right, the eye moves back to the left-hand page where you can make out the other characters in a tree farther away. The choice to make the page on the right near and the one on the left far keeps readers active and energized. You are inclined to always find the fox first on these pages, then double back to see what the other animals are doing. It goes against your natural reading patterns.
Moreover, a wonderful job is done in breaking up the images so that they don't all blend together. In the first two page spreads the picture on the left-hand side of the page is surrounded in a white border. On the right-hand page, the image bleeds all the way out to the edges. Rodriguez isn't afraid to play with borders and panels. One suspects that she has done more than her fair share of comics in the past.
Once in a while a parent or teacher will ask for a list of recommended wordless books. Sometimes these are useful for kids who want to read books but haven't learned how to read yet. Other times they're good for kids who are new to the country and want to read something, but haven't grasped the English language quite yet. And then there are other times when you just want to teach a kid what it's like to tell a story in pictures rather than words. From here on in I will be recommending The Chicken Thief to those already existing fans of Regis Faller's The Adventures of Polo or The Boy The Bear The Baron The Bard by Gregory Rogers. Fun with a twist ending, this is one of the lovelier picture book offerings of the year.
Ages 4-8.
November 13, 2015
Silent or wordless picture book, the first of a trilogy with a surprising number of surprises in it. Almost kind of epic in its scope. In this opening volume, a fox steals a chicken. What do you expect happens from there? Wrong, and what actually happens will make you smile. I won't write reviews for all three, but just to say, it is an adventure story, a love story, with twists and turns in it. You would not predict the resolution of the series. I guess it is about a 3.5 for me, the whole series, rounded up to a 4.
February 1, 2019
(نسخهی چاپشده توسط انتشارات مبتکران، کیفیت ناامیدکنندهای داره.)
June 12, 2013
This story makes no sense at all. A chicken is abducted by a Fox. Chicken's friends try to rescue her but it turns out chicken likes Fox and winds up living with him. Stockholm syndrome, methinks. After all, why is Fox holding her beak closed in the first picture? Why don't chicken and Fox just stop running and explain that everything is okay and she doesn't want to be rescued? The illustrations are cute but the story is just bizarre. It's right up there with Rumplestiltskin: the millers daughter marrying a man who threatened to kill her if she can't turn straw into gold? How on earth do you live happily ever after with a guy like that?
October 1, 2017
Cet album prouve que l'on peut imaginer un récit pour les enfants sans avoir besoin de texte. C'est un pari réussi! Des mises en situations cocasses, des illustrations trop mignonnes, des personnages tous autant charismatiques les uns que les autres. Les enfants auront certainement du plaisir à décortiquer chacune des images. Je le recommande à tous ceux qui voudront s'initier à l'album sans texte!
January 26, 2011
In this fun, fanciful wordless picture book from France, a fox runs away with a hen. And the hen's friends rush to rescue her. But, all is not what it seems...
Though I guessed the "surprise" ending long before I turned the final pages, I really enjoyed the adventure and these charming illustration.
Though I guessed the "surprise" ending long before I turned the final pages, I really enjoyed the adventure and these charming illustration.
December 5, 2019
I picked up Christmas presents today and couldn't resist reading some of them myself. :)
October 14, 2024
Baie Uniek. Baie Oulik. Die boek daag mens uit om natedink oor n storie, dinge is ook nie altyd soos wat dit lyk nie.
Read
August 15, 2021There are no words in this book at all. I didn't know that when I ordered this used book for just a few bucks online at Thriftbooks.com. You have to tell the story going by the pictures.
Although I don't care for this at all, the pictures are cute and you can definitely tell the story by following the pictures. A fox steals a chicken, but he doesn't want to kill it. He wants it as a friend. The other animals chase it down for days trying to get their chicken back. But, in the end they find that the chicken actually loves the fox too and wants to stay. It is a pretty cute story. It was first published in France in 2005, and published in America in 2010.
Maybe one of my 10 grandies will love telling a story. I'll come back and give a review and star rating later, after I have a few of them go through and tell me this story. Anyway, I'd be curious to hear the difference they each get out of it.
Although I don't care for this at all, the pictures are cute and you can definitely tell the story by following the pictures. A fox steals a chicken, but he doesn't want to kill it. He wants it as a friend. The other animals chase it down for days trying to get their chicken back. But, in the end they find that the chicken actually loves the fox too and wants to stay. It is a pretty cute story. It was first published in France in 2005, and published in America in 2010.
Maybe one of my 10 grandies will love telling a story. I'll come back and give a review and star rating later, after I have a few of them go through and tell me this story. Anyway, I'd be curious to hear the difference they each get out of it.
July 5, 2018
A wordless story detailing the kidnapping of a chicken and her subsequent friendship with the the thief (a fox) while her friends are in hot pursuit.
Very cute but you know you're old when you read this and think, "Stockholm Syndrome."
Very cute but you know you're old when you read this and think, "Stockholm Syndrome."
March 11, 2025
que la gallina haya desarrollado síndrome de estocolmo me hace pensar que la autora no tuvo una ancestra que fue secuestrada por un hombre para obligarla a casarse con él...
lindas ilustraciones tho
lindas ilustraciones tho
December 3, 2019
A brilliant wordless picturebook with a twist in the end.
April 11, 2024
Lo ví en Youtube sin narración y me resultó la cosa más pacífica del mundo, me encanta la paz que transmite.
April 21, 2024
Ridiculous wordless picture book about a fox who steals chicken from her friends and they fall in love. So basically a Stockholm syndrome story for kids! Yay! 4 stars
April 22, 2022
Adorable wordless picture book which plays on the traditional antagonistic relationship between foxes and chickens. Read for a paper.
May 18, 2012
A Case of the Stockholm Syndrome:
The first time I read this, I thought "Awwww, what a cute story about a fox and a chicken who become friends...How sweet." Then I read it again. After the third time, I realized something just didn't seem right. Wait a minute here...This isn't a story about a fox befriending a chicken, this is a story about a hostage who befriends her captor!
So without any words, this is a story about a fox who kidnaps a chicken, is chased by the chicken's friends...and somewhere along the chase, the chicken begins to play chess, wear sunglasses, and relax with the fox. I can only assume chicken had a psychological melt-down and empathized with the "misunderstood"kidnapper fox.
For a wordless picture book that clearly describes the Stockholm Syndrome, this author is pure genius. For a wordless picture book for children, you may want to think ahead on how you'll be telling the story.
Check out this review and more at Little Zombies.
The first time I read this, I thought "Awwww, what a cute story about a fox and a chicken who become friends...How sweet." Then I read it again. After the third time, I realized something just didn't seem right. Wait a minute here...This isn't a story about a fox befriending a chicken, this is a story about a hostage who befriends her captor!
So without any words, this is a story about a fox who kidnaps a chicken, is chased by the chicken's friends...and somewhere along the chase, the chicken begins to play chess, wear sunglasses, and relax with the fox. I can only assume chicken had a psychological melt-down and empathized with the "misunderstood"
For a wordless picture book that clearly describes the Stockholm Syndrome, this author is pure genius. For a wordless picture book for children, you may want to think ahead on how you'll be telling the story.
Check out this review and more at Little Zombies.
February 5, 2014
"The Chicken Thief" is a beautifully illustrated, wordless story, but I am not sure concerning the book's message, which is supposed to be unexpected "love". The so-called love story features a hen abducted by a fox while her friends are watching in horror. A hen who in the end shows symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome and sends her faithful friends home after a long and laborious rescue mission with a wave of her wing.
After "reading" the story and finding out that the bear, the rabbit and the goose are depicted as the characters who misinterpreted the dangerous-seeming situation wrongly (they blush self-consciously, when they see the hen hug the fox and look away), and that the fox is meant to be a gruff, tough-shell-guy with a marshmallow heart instead of a criminal who changes his mind mid-story, I don't feel comfortable enough to give the hardcover to my little niece anymore. What if she expects abduction by strange, violent men to be the ultimate fun?
The book goes back to Amazon - and on my a-jerk-is-a-jerk shelf, too.
After "reading" the story and finding out that the bear, the rabbit and the goose are depicted as the characters who misinterpreted the dangerous-seeming situation wrongly (they blush self-consciously, when they see the hen hug the fox and look away), and that the fox is meant to be a gruff, tough-shell-guy with a marshmallow heart instead of a criminal who changes his mind mid-story, I don't feel comfortable enough to give the hardcover to my little niece anymore. What if she expects abduction by strange, violent men to be the ultimate fun?
The book goes back to Amazon - and on my a-jerk-is-a-jerk shelf, too.
October 7, 2014
Fox sees Hen. Fox absconds with startled Hen. Outraged animals give chase to rescue Hen. Fox evades while holding onto Hen in The Chicken Thief (2010) by Beatrice Rodriguez.
If you think you know how this wordless story ends, think again.
Rodriguez's large, detailed illustrations offer a different take on this seemingly familiar story showing, instead of a hungry fox, one who might have found a worthy companion.
The illustrations are a nice size and filled with humor and detail as the fox (and the hen) are chased over land and sea and even through a rather narrow tunnel along their journey. The colors are bright and the images will be easy to "read" for a variety of readers.
Rodriguez has reinvented a story with a fun, surprise ending here. The Chicken Thief is a promising debut to Enchanted Lion's new Stories Without Words series.
This book was received for review from the publisher, Enchanted Lion Books.
If you think you know how this wordless story ends, think again.
Rodriguez's large, detailed illustrations offer a different take on this seemingly familiar story showing, instead of a hungry fox, one who might have found a worthy companion.
The illustrations are a nice size and filled with humor and detail as the fox (and the hen) are chased over land and sea and even through a rather narrow tunnel along their journey. The colors are bright and the images will be easy to "read" for a variety of readers.
Rodriguez has reinvented a story with a fun, surprise ending here. The Chicken Thief is a promising debut to Enchanted Lion's new Stories Without Words series.
This book was received for review from the publisher, Enchanted Lion Books.
August 29, 2014
I could not love this book more. It's so nutty and so sweet at the same time.
It's a pictures only book, the illustrations tell the entire story.
There are a ton of unanswered questions here - why does the fox live so far away? How did he meet the chicken in the first place? Why was this staged as an abduction? This book is probably at its most enjoyable if you don't think too much on any of these things.
The real charm for me is in the illustrations. The animal figures are often tiny, but their little stances and expressions pack a lot of emotion (silly emotion). The look on the bear's face when he is resigned to being used as a boat? Kills me. Lucy at 3 years old also thought these pictures were very fun to follow.
It's a pictures only book, the illustrations tell the entire story.
There are a ton of unanswered questions here - why does the fox live so far away? How did he meet the chicken in the first place? Why was this staged as an abduction? This book is probably at its most enjoyable if you don't think too much on any of these things.
The real charm for me is in the illustrations. The animal figures are often tiny, but their little stances and expressions pack a lot of emotion (silly emotion). The look on the bear's face when he is resigned to being used as a boat? Kills me. Lucy at 3 years old also thought these pictures were very fun to follow.
January 9, 2015
As other reviewers have said, the first time reading this book it seems like a sweet friendship story. But actually there must be more to it than that -- why do the fox and the hen need to run away from the other animals? He abducts her and she gets Stockholm Syndrome? The story I concocted while reading is actually that they were in love but the rooster and other animals disapproved of their union, so he "kidnaps" her and they run away together, and when the other animals find out they're embarrassed. I'm not sure why she wouldn't just sneak away sometime when the other animals weren't looking, but maybe this island they run away to has legalized interspecies marriage? Or something?
January 26, 2014
A wonderful wordless picture book, perfect for sharing and encouraging children to tell their own story. Also perfect for parents who might be less confident readers themselves. There is so much detail in the beautiful illustrations, which allow plenty of opportunity for your own interpretation, as does the story which has some surprising turns along the way. Every time we read this it is slightly different and we emphasise different aspects, although some things remain constant for us, such as the character names. This gives it a great mix of familiar and new.
March 16, 2010
My children absolutely adore this book - which they call the funky chicken book. The illustrations of the animals are so expressive and there are endless stories contained within the pages.
As there are no words the children are able to explore the book and tell the story themselves. I have only ever once come across a book like this before and that was 'Creepy Castle', which is now sadly out of print.
As there are no words the children are able to explore the book and tell the story themselves. I have only ever once come across a book like this before and that was 'Creepy Castle', which is now sadly out of print.
April 30, 2012
A wordless story of a fox kidnapping a chicken (with the chicken's friends in hot pursuit). It's meant to be charming because it turns out by the end that the fox doesn't want to *eat* the chicken, ze wants to share a life with hir. And the chicken also wants to spend hir life with the fox. Only problem? The chicken didn't agree in the first case (so far as I could tell from a careful reading of the pictures). So basically it's a story of Stockholm Syndrome. Not so good.
August 12, 2011
Funny story about a fox who steals a chicken, yet has no intentions of harming her. What happens when well meaning friends (a bear, a rabbit, and a rooster) decide to save chicken from fox? Read this book to find out.
July 15, 2013
Used this to introduce wordless books to PreK students and they went bananas for it. They felt so empowered that they could read a book without having to sound out any letters or words. Great experience - try it!
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May 14, 2017An award winning silent cinemascopic epic! --Monty K.
September 3, 2015
η δύναμη της εικόνας....υπέροχη εικονογράφηση σε μια ιστορία χωρίς καθόλου λόγια....η αγάπη δεν έχει στερεότυπα,αλλιώς δεν είναι αγάπη.....
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