WHAT'S IN FOX'S SACK?

Galdone borrows from folklore for this little tale of Fox and the progressively lip-smacking contents of his sack. First Fox catches a bumblebee and puts it in his big sack, then leaves the sack with a "very little woman" and warns her not to look inside. Of course she does, and the bee flies out and is eaten by her rooster. So Fox, returning, puts the rooster in his sack and goes on his way. The same thing happens with a "very big woman" (Fox takes her pig, who chased off the rooster) and a "very skinny woman" (Fox takes her little boy), until finally a "very fat woman," who doesn't peek, hears the boy calling out and tricks Fox by substituting her big watchdog. The story and the telling are suitably simple, with the repetitive pattern itself generating the interest and suspense; and the pictures carry it along with Galdone's usual strong sense of action and comic expression. But there's nothing fresh about any of it, just a competent professional performance.