Rebecca and I have just finished reading Milly Molly Mandy and have started on the well loved Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl. The other night, I was struck by an interaction between Mr Fox and his wife. The scene occurs after Mr Fox has saved the lives of his wife and four children from the farmers Bunce, Bean and Boggis, who want to eliminate the family:They all sat down, panting for breath. And Mrs Fox said to her children, 'I should like you to know that if it wasn't for your father we should all be dead by now. Your father is a fantastic fox'.
Mr Fox looked at his wife and she smiled. He loved her more than ever when she said things like that. (p. 19)
I was struck by the way the fictitious Mrs Fox was speaking about her husband in front of the children, and the way that the author seems to understand how much this matters to Mr Fox (and, he could have added, how much it matters to the little foxes too).
So now (in this aspect of life, anyway) I have a new role-model: fantastic Mrs Fox!
4 comments:
Thanks for sharing that example, Nic - to hear it expressed in such a simplistic way like that, it seems it should come naturally, will be praying that I and other wives can speak in praise about our husbands like that! The challenge is out there!
I loved that book as a child :-) Roald Dahl is my childhood hero!
Good catch, and good point.
Check this, and this.
That's wonderful!
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