The medieval beast epic of Reynard the Fox gets the metafictional treatment in this text-heavy picture-book from author/illustrator Alain Vaës, published in 1994. When the leonine King Harald has doubts about his fitness to rule, his queen calls upon a mysterious hermit living nearby to come to court, and share his wisdom. The hermit relates the story of another lion king, one who had to deal with a troublesome courtier named Reynard - a fox who was always starting feuds with the other animals. The hermit goes on to describe the many incidents of Reynard's history, concluding with his triumph over his wolf adversary in personal combat. Here however, in stark contrast to the traditional story of Reynard, the hermit describes the fox as having a moment of truth upon the battlefield. He realizes that his conflicts with the other animals are pointless, and that he himself is much to blame for his current state. Eventually he is reformed, and appointed Lord High Chancellor of the Animal Kingdom, becoming their first ambassador to the human world. Switching back to the court of King Harald, the narrative follows the mysterious hermit as, story told, he departs for his home. In the final illustration the reader sees a fox tail peeking out from underneath the hermit's robe, revealing that the storyteller has perhaps been Reynard himself...

Alan Vaës' Reynard the Fox was the final text I considered in the research I conducted for my masters dissertation, written on three centuries of Reynard retellings for children in the Anglophone world. It was quite different from every version of the story I had encountered until that point, taking the didactic use of the tale - something evident in all previous tellings - and making that use a part of the main narrative itself, rather than something discussed in forewords, introductions, afterwords, or moral asides. This Reynard is also quite distinct, in that it is the fox himself - if we are to believe that this is what the final illustrations is telling us - who, for the first time, narrates his own story for the reader. Like some of his predecessors in the field of Reynard storytelling for children, Vaës changes the outcome of the story, having his character reform, rather than simply triumph and carry on with his wicked ways. His purpose in doing so however, seems less to do with punishment - many of the other authors who changed the ending did so to kill the fox - and more to do with his vision of Reynard's purpose. This is best expressed by the lion king (the one in the inset story), who declares to Reynard that "You have proved to us more than once that no other animals can match your cleverness and craft, so it is our royal pride in you as one of us to send you forth to demonstrate to the humans that animals can match wits with them and even teach them a thing or two."

With such an unusual take on the Reynard story, both in terms of how it is told and what it means, this picture-book was fascinating to me. It was also beautifully illustrated, and a pleasure to pore over. Recommended to anyone who enjoys revisionist/fractured fairy and folktales, and the fans of the Reynard story. ( )

Very good Reynard the fox book with good illustrations by Vaes Alain