Caryl Hart (text) & Alex T Smith (illustration)
(Hodder Children’s Books)
Foxy Dubois is sick of having to fend for herself and her rather large, forever hungry, grumpy sidekick, Alphonso the Alligator, so she wants to get rich quick to feed both of them and hopefully escape the reptile’s claws and plate once and for all. But she needs to master a plan sharply, and the perfect opportunity arises when an ad for dog walker comes up. Foxy is up to not good, once again.
Readers might have encountered Foxy and Alphonso in two picture books penned by Alex T Smith, Egg and Catch Us if You Can-Can. They are now the heroes of a brand new illustrated fiction series, Foxy Tales, written by Caryl Hart, and still adorned by Alex T Smith’s much-loved witty drawings.
Packed full of wacky situations, slapstick humour, outrageous plans and ludicrous behaviour from baddies you love to hate, The Cunning Plan will keep young readers entertained till the very last page. They will undoubtedly love to witness the rise and fall of clever Foxy, with her desire for grandeur turning out to be her downfall, eventually bringing her down a peg or two!
It can’t be easy to write about characters you have not created, but Caryl Hart has down a grand job at keeping with the tone of the original two picturebooks. The Cunning Plan is fun, quirky, and moreish. Just as well there is another one on the way!
Source: review copy from publisher
Foxy Tales sounds lots of fun. I love Alphonso’s moustache 🙂