Fox Hatches an Egg
by Sun Chyng-Feng, Nan Jun
A hungry fox finds a beautiful duck’s egg, but would rather eat a tasty little duck, so he becomes a super-nanny, and waits patiently for the egg to hatch. Fox is so hungry he can hardly move. He chances upon a beautiful smooth duck’s egg. He is just about to crack it open and eat it, when a thought occurs to him: “If I hatch the egg, I’ll be able to eat a tasty little duck!” So he takes the egg with him when he goes walking, and even takes it to bed with him. Over time, the egg becomes his friend. Then, one day, Fox is woken by a strange noise. He notices a little hole in the top of the egg, and sees a little duck’s beak pecking away at the hole… Fox Hatches an Egg has been a classic in the Taiwanese children’s book world for twenty years. Reminiscent of Aesop’s fables, Sun Chyng-feng’s story depicts with humour the relationship between Fox and the little duck, but turns the old-style fox-as-villain story into one with warmth and kindness. The new illustrations by Nan Jun are full of autumnal colour and atmosphere and are cleverly constructed, making this a wonderful reinterpretation of a classic.