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Storytelling

Watch the film’s trailer together as a class. Make predictions about what you think will happen during the film. How do you think it will end?

In The Fox And The Child a young girl, now grown up, remembers her childhood. This is how the voiceover narration begins:

My story started one day, by chance, on the way to school. I remember it only too well. I was just 10 years old. It was the first time I had seen a fox so close. And he hadn’t heard me. He stayed there and I watched him. My heart was beating flat out. He was so cute. For a moment, I thought I might be able to touch him.

Throughout the day at school, I could only think of the fox at the big beech tree. At my return to the place where we met, I was sure I‘d find him again. I decided that I would try and tame this fox. At that point I had no idea that it was the beginning of a great adventure…

Your task is to continue and finish this story, starting where the narration ends.

Here are some tips for writing your story:

1. You are writing as the girl, narrating in the first person. That means you and the reader see everything through her eyes. What different emotions will she feel during your story?
2. How will you structure your story to show how time passes? Think about time connectives and paragraphs.
3. What sights and sounds will she experience? What descriptive language will you use? Think about adjectives, powerful verbs and adverbs. What about figurative language? Can you think of ideas for similes or personification to describe the nature in your story's setting? What about onomatopoeia for the different sounds in the woods?

Alternatively: Write a paragraph describing the woods that the girl explores. Watch the clip in the next section and include the different senses in your description. Use third person narration.