Chanticleer and the Fox by Barbara Cooney takes its story from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. It is the story of the rooster named Chanticleer who let himself be flattered by a cunning fox. He is saved in the end, but the reader learns the lesson.
There are few things about it that don’t sit well for me in a children’s book: such as the rooster’s “seven wives” and Chanticleer has a nightmare that comes true. But in the end, I liked how a classic story (which I admit I have not yet read in the original) could be retold for children. Cooney’s illustrations are simple (some pages are black and red, and others featuring bright gold, red, green, and blue illustrations) and well deserving of the 1959 Caldecott Award.
