K ID S FA C T S H E NT

E KI DS FA CT SH EE T
PENGU IN PE NG UI

Level 4
Suitable for: young learners who have
completed up to 200 hours
of study in English
Type of English: British
Headwords: 800
Key words: 15 (see pages 2 and 7 of
this Factsheet)
Key grammar: irregular past simple verbs,
relative pronouns, could for
past ability and possibility,
must for obligation

Summary of the story
Farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean each have a farm.
They are rich men, but mean. Mr Fox lives under a
tree on a hill above the farms and feeds his family
with chickens from Boggiss farm, ducks from
Bunces farm and turkeys from Beans farm. Bean
also grows apples and makes cider from them.
The angry farmers are not happy that Mr Fox is
always taking their animals, and they decide to
kill the thief. They shoot at him when he leaves
his hole one day, but they only take off his tail. So
they decide to dig him out, first by hand and then
with diggers, but the foxes just dig deeper into the
ground. But when the farmers stop digging and
decide to circle the hill with all their men and wait
instead, Mr Fox has a problem. How can he leave
his home to feed his family now? He devises a plan.
First, Mr Fox and the Small Foxes dig a tunnel to
the floor of Boggiss chicken house. Mr Fox kills
some chickens and sends his oldest child home
with them. Then, with the help of his friend Badger,
Mr Fox digs a second tunnel to Bunces storehouse,
and sends his other two children home with ducks
and vegetables. Finally, he and Badger dig a
third tunnel to Beans cider house and steal some
bottles.
The Foxes invite their animal friends to a big party.
They eat and drink, and agree that they can live
underground and use the tunnels to take food and
drink from the farmers storehouses. Little do the
three farmers know all this as they sit outside,
next to Mr Foxs hole, waiting in vain for him to
come out.
Background information
Roald Dahls popular story Fantastic Mr Fox was
first published in 1970. A later edition included the
illustrations by Quentin Blake that are also used in
the Reader.
In 2009, the book was made into a film, with
the voices of George Clooney as Mr Fox and
Meryl Streep as Mrs Fox. The book has also been
adapted for theatre and opera.
Did you know ?
The tree that the Fox family calls home is
based on a real beech tree in the garden of
the house where Roald Dahl lived, in a little
village in England.
In the film, 535 puppets were made. And
there were 102 puppets of Mr Fox alone!
The director of the film, Wes Anderson, still
has the copy of the book Fantastic Mr Fox
that his mother gave to him when he was
seven years old.

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The characters Key words

Mr Fox is a fox who lives with his family in a wood (see page 7 of this Factsheet for the Key words in
on a hill above three farms. context)
Mrs Fox is Mr Foxs wife.
cider (n) mean (adj)
The Small Foxes are Mr and Mrs Foxs three
dig (v) / digger (n) other (det)
children.
duck (n) steal (v)
Farmer Boggis is a fat, greedy chicken farmer. fault (n) storehouse (n)
Farmer Bunce is a short, greedy duck farmer. fox (n) too (adv)
Farmer Bean is a tall, thin turkey and apple gun (n) tunnel (n)
farmer. hill (n) turkey (n)
Mrs Bean is Farmer Beans wife. hole (n)
Mabel is a woman who works for Mr and Mrs
Bean.
Badger is a friend of Mr Fox who lives with his
family in the wood.
The Rabbits also live in the wood and are guests
at Mr Foxs party.

Topics and themes

Farm pests Mr Fox takes food from the farms.
Ask the students why he does this. Why doesnt
he catch food in the wood? Is it understandable
that the farmers want to kill him? What other wild
animals might make the farmers work difficult?
Which characters in the story do the students
sympathise with more: the wild animals, the
farmers or the farm birds? Why?
Animal homes The Fox family lives in a hole
under the ground. Ask the students which other
animals live underground, and where they think
other animals and birds live.
Family Mrs Fox says that her husband is a
fantastic fox because he always saves his family.
Ask the students which qualities in their parents
or carers, brothers and sisters are most important
to them. What role do the students play in their
families?
Right and wrong Badger is worried about
stealing. Mr Fox is not. Who do the students agree
with? Can they think of times when other bad
behaviour might be acceptable?

Animal skills Ask the students what all the foxes

do better than the farmers. How is this skill useful
to them? Ask students to think about other wild
animals. Do they dig? What can they do better
than us?

Friends and enemies Mr Fox and his family have

friends in the wood. What does he do for them?
What might they do for him? How do the animals
all feel when they are together? The three farmers
only seem to have enemies (and employees). Are
they happy people? What emotions do they show?

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Class Activities (After Reading)
Here are some activities to do with your class
after reading Fantastic Mr Fox.
1. Make a fox mask
Materials: orange card; white and black
construction paper; 3 white or black pipe cleaners
(chenille stems); safety scissors; glue; string or
elastic; masking tape (optional)
Before the session, make a fox mask following
the instructions. Tell the students that they are
going to make a mask for the fox of their choice
from the story.
Talk about the different foxes in the story and
ask the students to tell you their favourites.
They should choose which fox they like best and
they will make a mask of that character.
Draw the template of a fox mask on the board,
as shown in the diagram on page 6 of this
Factsheet. Then hand out the materials.
First, the students draw the mask shape on their
piece of orange card, as per the template on the
board.
They cut out the mask shape and the eye holes.
Now they decorate the mask. The students
add the white fur area near the foxs mouth by
cutting out the shape using white construction
paper. Then they cut out triangular ear shapes
and a round nose using black construction
paper. Then they glue all the features except the
nose onto the mask. Do not include the whiskers
at this stage.
Go round the class and help out where
necessary.
To make the whiskers, take three pipe cleaners
and pinch and twist them together in the middle.
Separate them out a little and glue them onto
the mask in the nose area. Now the black nose
can be glued on top.
To make the mask ready to wear, the students
make small holes near the eyes using a pencil or
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scissors and thread the string or elastic through
the holes, tying knots near the holes so that the
string or elastic stays securely in place.
The students are now ready to wear their fox
masks.
Divide the class into groups to act out scenes
from the story. Form groups using the different
fox characters and choose scenes.
The students could write down their dialogues
before acting them out, using their own words
in English.
Ask for volunteers to perform their dialogue for
the rest of the class wearing their masks.
2. Project: Fox Facts
Materials: internet access and / or reference
books; large sheets of white card; coloured pens /
pencils / paints; safety scissors; glue
Explain to the students that the red fox, which
the foxes in the story are based on, is the
most common species of fox, and it is found in
Europe, North America, North Africa and Asia.
Ask the students if they have ever seen a fox.
Divide the class into pairs. Tell the students that
they are going to do a project about the red fox,
making a Fox Facts poster to learn more about
the animal.
Give each pair a large sheet of card. The pairs
should do their research together, gathering
information about the red fox on the internet or
in reference books. They should find out about
the animals habitat, what food it eats, whether
it is nocturnal, what its lifespan is, what its
characteristics are, and any other important
information.
The students then draw a picture of the fox
on the poster and colour it, or use pictures
downloaded from the internet to stick onto their
poster. Then they write sentences about the fox
to relate all the information they have gathered.
They should present the information in a fun and
interesting way.
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Display the posters around the classroom and
ask volunteers to discuss what they know about
the red fox.
Variation: the students could find and write
down ten facts about the red fox for homework,
before they make the poster in class.
3. Farmers Venn diagram
Materials: large sheets of paper; coloured pens /
pencils; safety scissors; glue
Talk with the students about the farmers in the
story. Do they have a favourite? Which farmer
do they dislike the most? Why? Are the farmers
cruel to the fox family or are they right to try
and stop them from stealing their animals?
Tell the students that they are going to find out
more about Boggis, Bunce and Bean, and create
a Venn diagram to present the information. They
will compare and contrast the farmers to find
out about their similarities and differences.
Draw a three-circle Venn diagram on the board
and write Farmer Boggis, Farmer Bunce and
Farmer Bean above each of the circles. Explain to
the students that all the information about each
individual farmer goes in the sections of their
circles that do not overlap. The information
that goes in the section that intersects all three
circles is for all the farmers, and the information
that goes in the sections where two circles
overlap concerns those two farmers only, e.g.
Boggis and Bean, or Bunce and Boggis.
Divide the class into pairs and hand out the
sheets of paper. Ask the students to draw a
large three-circle Venn diagram on their paper.
Write on the board some key points for the
students to find out, such as: What produce does
each one keep on their farm? Who is the cleverest
farmer? Which ones love food? What are the
characteristics of each farmer?
Ask the students to do their research in pairs.
They should look through the book and make
notes to compare and contrast the farmers. For
example, both Boggis and Bunce love food, so
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the students would add this kind of information
to the section in the diagram where Boggis and
Bunces circles intersect.
The students then complete their Venn diagram
with the information they have gathered, being
sure to keep separate the information that
is different about the farmer and adding any
similarities to the intersections in the diagram.
Display the information around the class.
Discuss the differences and the similarities
between the farmers with the students.
Variation: Make it into a game. Draw up a sheet
of paper with 10, 15 or 20 fact boxes. Write
similarities and differences between the farmers
in each box. Include information about their
traits and characteristics, etc. The sentences
could be things like: Hes the cleverest farmer. He
shoots Mr Fox. They love food. Print out pages
for groups or for individual students. Have the
students cut out the fact boxes. In teams, the
students could come up to the board and stick
the farmer facts in the correct circles of the
Venn diagram.
4. Woodland animals quiz
Materials: internet access and / or reference
books; sheets of white card; pens / pencils; safety
scissors
Tell the students that the red fox is often found
in woodland areas in the UK. Brainstorm more
woodland animals with the class (rabbit, badger,
squirrel, mouse, hedgehog, deer, weasel, etc.).
Divide the class into groups of five or six
students. The students are going to prepare a
woodland animals quiz.
Ask the students in each group to decide on
a different woodland animal to research, so
that each group will have information on five
or six different animals. Using the internet or
reference books, they can then find out about
their animal of choice. This could also be done
for homework.
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Give the students ideas about the kind of
information they should be finding out about
their animals, such as what it eats, what its
house looks like, whether its nocturnal, what it
looks like.
The students should make multiple-choice
quiz questions with the information they have
gathered. Hand out a sheet of card to each
student and show them how to cut the card into
eight smaller quiz cards by folding the card into
eight pieces and cutting along the fold lines.
The students write eight quiz questions about
their animal on the individual cards. Write
a couple of questions on the board for the
students to use as examples:
This animal lives in a hole in a tree and eats nuts.
a) badger
b) fox
c) squirrel
This animals home is called a sett.
a) mouse
b) badger
c) rabbit
When they have finished, the students put all
the quiz questions together for their group and
shuffle them. Gather the cards from the groups.
And divide the class into two teams. Do the quiz
with Teams A and B, noting down the scores on
the board. The winner is the team who answers
the most correct questions.
The quiz can also be played in groups.
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5. Find your partner / group
Materials: slips of white paper; card; safety
scissors
Before the session, make up cards with the
name of a character from the story on them.
There must be at least two cards for each
character (or more, depending on the number
of students in the class). The characters could
include: Boggis, Bunce, Bean, Mr Fox, Mrs Fox,
the Small Foxes, Badger. The characters could
also include those without any actual dialogue
in the book, if you feel the students are able
to improvise dialogue for those with a non-
speaking role.
Shuffle the name cards and give one to each
student. Tell them not to show their cards to
each other. Give out blank slips of paper.
The students should think of a line of dialogue
that their character says and write it down on
the slip of paper. They can refer to the book
and / or improvise a line.
The students then walk around the classroom,
saying their line of dialogue. Encourage the
students to say their line without looking
at their paper and to use the voice of the
character. In this way, they find the other
students in the class who have the same
character.
To play the game again, collect the name cards,
reshuffle and hand them out for a second time
(making sure each student gets a different
character this time).
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Key words
cider He never ate, but he drank cider from his apples. (p. 3)

digger Foxes are better diggers than men. (p. 8)

duck There were hundreds of fat ducks! (p.16)

fault We cant get out. There are men with guns up there. Its your fault. Theyre
looking for you! (p. 15)

fox For three nights, the farmers waited. The foxes were hungry now. (p. 13)

gun Mr Fox looked out into the night. All was quiet. But what was that? It was a
gun! (p. 6)

hill On a hill above the three farms there was a wood. (p. 4)

hole Lets hide outside his hole tomorrow night and catch him. (p. 5)

mean Farmer Boggis, Farmer Bunce and Farmer Bean were rich. They were also
mean. (p. 3)

other The other foxes started digging. (p. 13)

steal But isnt this wrong? Were ... stealing, Badger said. (p. 17)

storehouse Yes! he shouted. Bunces storehouse! (p. 16)

too Im too weak, said Mrs Fox. (p.13)

tunnel Mr Fox went back into the tunnel and pulled the wood down after him. (p. 14)

turkey Bean was a tall, thin turkey and apple farmer. (p. 3)

PHOTOCOPIABLE
Text copyright Pearson Education
Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, 1996. All rights reserved.
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While-Reading activities
Activity 1 (pages 35)
Who are they? Match. Draw lines.

1 He never ate.
2 He was short and loved food.
a Farmer Boggis
3 a chicken farmer
b Farmer Bunce
4 a duck farmer
c Farmer Bean
5 He was fat and loved food.
6 a turkey and apple farmer

Activity 2 (pages 69)

Circle the correct words.
1 The foxes want to eat turkey / duck / chicken tonight.
2 The farmers / Bunce and Bean / Boggis and Bunce wait by the
tree that night.
3 The farmers shoot and get Mr Foxs gun / tail / hole.
4 Next, the farmers start to dig out / shoot / wake up the fox family.
5 The foxes dig a fantastic / deep / noisy hole.
PHOTOCOPIABLE
Text copyright Pearson Education
Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, 1996. All rights reserved.
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Activity 3 (pages 1012)

Order the sentences.
a The farmers put men around the hill to stop the foxes getting away.
b The diggers pulled out trees and rocks from the ground.
c Mr Fox told his family to dig for their lives.
d The farmers used big, black diggers to catch the fox family.
e The farmers stopped digging.
Activity 4 (pages 1316)
Write T (True) or F (False).
1 Mr Fox was too weak to dig again.
2 The foxes dug until they came to a wood floor.
3 The foxes dug a tunnel to Beans storehouse.
4 Mr Fox killed some ducks for the Small Foxes to take back.
5 Badger said it was Mr Foxs fault that there were men with guns.
6 Badger helped Mr Fox to dig another tunnel.
Activity 5 (pages 1719)
Tick 4 the right answers.
1 Who thought it was wrong to steal?
a Mrs Fox
b Badger
c the small foxes
2 Why does Mr Fox think it is right to take the farmers food?
a to feed his family
b to feed the other animals in the wood
c to have food for a party
PHOTOCOPIABLE
Text copyright Pearson Education
Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, 1996. All rights reserved.
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3 Where did they come to when they dug a third tunnel?

a the storehouse
b the chicken house
c the cider house
4 What did they find in Beans cider house?
a drinks for the party
b chickens to eat
c Farmer Bean with a gun
5 Did Mabel think there was something wrong in the cider house?
a Yes, she saw a fox and a badger.
b Yes, there was a bad smell.
c No, she went there to get some bottles of cider.
Activity 6 (pages 2022)
Write the names in the sentences.

Bean Mr Fox Badger Mrs Fox Bunce

1  thinks Mr Fox is fantastic!

2 thanks his friend for saving their lives.
3  waits for Mr Fox to come out of the hole
and eat.
4  tells his friends that they can now use the
tunnels for food and drink.
5  waits for Mr Fox to come out of the hole
and drink.

PHOTOCOPIABLE
Text copyright Pearson Education
Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, 1996. All rights reserved.
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After-Reading activities
Activity 1
Read. Write short answers.
1 Its under a big tree in the middle of the wood.
What is?

2 Theyre digging us out!

Who are?

3 He has to come out.

Who does?

4 Im too weak.
Who is?

5 Take these to your mother.

Take what?

6 We cant get out.

Who cant?

7 But isnt this wrong?

Isnt what wrong?

8 But theres no food here.

Where?

PHOTOCOPIABLE
Text copyright Pearson Education
Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, 1996. All rights reserved.
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Activity 2
Look at the picture and complete the sentences.

In the picture, Farmer 1 is holding Mr Foxs

2
. All three farmers are holding 3 .

They are standing under the big tree, near Mr Foxs 4 .

They wanted to 5 him, but their plan didnt work. Now
Bean has a new 6 . They are going to 7
Mr Fox and his family out of the ground. Below them, Mr Fox cannot
8
because he is unhappy about his tail.
PHOTOCOPIABLE
Text copyright Pearson Education
Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, 1996. All rights reserved.
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Activity 3
Where are they? Match.
1 Inside Mr Foxs hole
2 In Boggiss chicken house
3 In Beans cider house
4 Outside Mr Foxs hole
5 In a tunnel
a b c

d e

Activity 4
Write the letters and finish the words.
1 Which meat do you like most: t _ _ _ _ y, c _ _ _ _ _ n or d _ _ k?
2 The farmers are rich, but m _ _ n. They are very a _ _ _ y with Mr Fox.
3 There are men with guns up there, B _ _ _ _ r says. And its your
f _ _ _ t.
4 You can make a very big h _ _ e with a d _ _ _ _ r.
5 Theres a t _ _ _ _ l from Mr Foxs home to the s _ _ _ _ h _ _ _ e.
PHOTOCOPIABLE
Text copyright Pearson Education
Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, 1996. All rights reserved.
13 Roald Dahl Material Roald Dahl Nominee Ltd. FANTASTIC MR FOX LEVEL 4

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Answer Key After-Reading activities

In the back of the Reader Activity 1
1 Mr Foxs hole / home
Before You Read 2 the three farmers / Boggis, Bunce and Bean
1 Students own answers (a chickens b on a farm 3 Mr Fox
c for food / to eat d home) 4 Mrs Fox
2 Students own answers (a Bean rich, mean, 5 three chickens
tall, thin; b Bunce rich, mean, short, greedy; 6 Badger and his family and friends
c Boggis rich, mean, fat, greedy) 7 taking the farmers birds
8 in the cider house
After You Read
1 a 5 b 4 c 2 d 6 e 1 f 3 Activity 2
2 a diggers b 108 c chicken d stealing 1 Bean 2 tail 3 guns 4 hole / home 5 kill
e Mr Foxs f wait for 6 plan / idea 7 dig 8 sleep
3 Students own answers.
Activity 3
1b 2d 3a 4e 5c
In this Factsheet
Activity 4
While-Reading activities
1 turkey, chicken, duck 2 mean, angry
Activity 1 3 Badger, fault 4 hole, digger
1 c Farmer Bean 5 tunnel, storehouse
2 b Farmer Bunce
3 a Farmer Boggis
4 b Farmer Bunce
5 a Farmer Boggis
6 c Farmer Bean

Activity 2
1 duck 2 The farmers 3 tail 4 dig out 5 deep
Activity 3
The correct order is: d, c, b, e, a

Activity 4
1 F Mrs Fox was too weak.
2 T
3 FThe foxes dug a tunnel to Boggiss chicken
house.
4 F Mr Fox killed three chickens.
5 T
6 T

Activity 5
1b 2a 3c 4a 5b

Activity 6
1 Mrs Fox 2 Badger 3 Bunce 4 Mr Fox 5 Bean

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