FICTION

The Fox Chase

by Sven NORDQVIST
tr. from Swedish by Tara Chace. illus. by Sven Nordqvist. 32p. (The Adventures of Pettson and Findus). NorthSouth. 2015. Tr $17.95. ISBN 9780735842151.
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 2—The Fox Chase was originally published in the United States in 1989 and has been out of print for some time. This particular volume in the series deals with Farmer Pettson and his cat Findus devising a convoluted scheme to scare away a fox that is a potential threat to their chickens. Gun-toting neighbor Gustavsson would prefer to exterminate the animal. Pettson builds a chicken decoy; a balloon inside is filled with pepper. He attaches strings of fireworks on one long fuse and a rope and pulley system so Findus can swing through the air in a ghost costume. The scheme ends with the fox running into the house for shelter and being surrounded by angry chickens, while Gustavsson finds himself on the receiving end of the booby traps. Neither one will bother the chickens again, and the fox's life is spared. The dialogue between Pettson and Findus is amusing, and the illustrations are charming. Findus appears in his baggy, single-strapped overalls sometimes four or five times on a page—playing croquet, peeking out from a cabinet, or putting a blanket on a sleeping chicken. Children can pore over the details on these pages repeatedly and still not catch all the humorous touches.
VERDICT These two endearing characters will be remembered and asked for again and again.
Reviewed by Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
Readers will immediately feel at home in Pettson and Findus's world, thanks to Sven Nordqvist's cheery, inviting art and the friends' easy banter, which speaks to years of cozy cohabitation. (In a recurring motif, Pettson never remembers where things are, and Findus must gently remind him.) As the story progresses, Pettson and Findus's plan to scare away the fox grows more and more elaborate. Children will delight in every zany detail, especially Pettson's fake chicken-crafted from a balloon, steel wire, and a bag of borrowed feathers-and Findus's star turn as a "ghost cat" on a zip line. The plan ends up a success, but in ways neither the farmer nor the cat anticipated. A satisfying twist imparts a gentle moral lesson about the importance of having sympathy for every walk of life (including foxes). Nordqvist's illustrations contain a treasure troves of amusing details. Every read-through is a chance to discover something new: a mouse driving a tiny car through croquet wickets, for example, or Findus tucking a chicken into bed under the kitchen table.
Thoughtful farmer Pettson and his talking cat, Findus, scheme to stop a fox from gobbling their chickens. While there's much humor, warmth, and cleverness in the telling, as with some of the other Pettson and Findus books, the journey can feel overly long. The art is like the story: droll, stuffed with detail, and favorably reminiscent of an earlier era.
 , Dec 01, 2015

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