The Tale of Sly Tod by Dorothy King (Blackie’s Easy to Read Books, 1967)

Dorothy King’s tale for children, in which the eponymous fox earns his epithet.

Blackie’s Easy to Read Books; 1967; 40pp; 190x125x5mm; 0.2kg; printed paper sides; black and white illustrations throughout.

I hope readers of this blog will forgive the indulgence of a momentary departure from the usual focus on fine books to take a look at perhaps the most treasured book in my library: my 1967 edition of The Tale of Sly Tod by Dorothy King. This book was already close to twenty years old when a neighbour fished it out of a cardboard box and gifted it to me—thus granting me what was essentially my first book. Perhaps with this post I can reunite other Todites with their long-lost vulpine friend.

The Tale of Sly Tod (1967) illustration from pp22–23.

The book is hardbound with printed paper covered board. The front cover bears a colour illustration of the eponymous fox pursued by a red-coated huntsman. The cover, in common with the rest of the illustrations is quite stylized—it could almost be heraldic (per fess azure vert a hunter gules contourné in dexter chief; a fox rampant gules contourné, or something like that). The back cover is bright yellow and bears a list of other books in the series. My copy was on the verge of falling apart and I have repaired it with green binder’s tape. The end papers are of plain paper and the front free end paper bears the original pre-decimal price, 1s 6d.

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The Tale of Sly Tod (1967) exterior details.

I would quite like to buy another copy, perhaps one in better shape that I can handle without fear of ruining it. Unfortunately, this undertaking is made more complicated by the existence of later editions published under the same title. Below, for example, are some images of a copy of one of these later editions (undated) that I have. A number of things have changed. The brightly covered front cover has been replaced by a more subdued one; the hunter has vanished. Likewise, the vibrant back cover is now grey. The change in illustration style is mirrored inside the book, with the stylized drawings of Gordon Burrell replaced by those of an uncredited artist. The title page has changed to reflect that fact that this edition now includes a second story (Not Too Small). More egregiously, the text of the story itself has been revised. Take a look at the opening paragraphs from the two editions to see an example. Many used book dealers do not bother with photographs or detailed descriptions of small, low-value items like this, making shopping for the right edition a bit of a minefield.

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The Tale of Sly Tod and Not Too Small exterior details and comparisons between this edition (bottom) and my 1967 edition (top).

Returning to the true (i.e., 1967) edition: inside, we are confronted with the tale of Sly Tod himself. Tod is a fox that, true to its name, is most cunning. The forty page story follows Tod’s adventures in the country around his den. This includes regular smash-and-grab raids on the local farm and the inevitable confrontations with the farmer and his hunter chums. It’s occasionally a close run thing but, of course, they can’t outsmart Sly Tod. I don’t mind admitting that even as a grown man, I still quite enjoy this story. I rather suspect that, tame as it is, the book might be deemed inappropriate for today’s delicate children—shame.

The Tale of Sly Tod (1967) illustration from pp30–31.

As noted above, the volume has stylized line illustrations by Gordon Burrell. There are nine illustrations in total, excluding the colour illustration on the front cover.

Two versions of the book to enjoy!

Having whet everybody’s appetite, I’m sure you’re dying to learn more about Tod and his exploits. The gallery below has photographs of all forty pages so you can follow the whole story. If that’s not enough, I have created a modernised PDF version of the book, with carefully recreated vector versions of all of the illustrations. You can download it below.

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The Tale of Sly Tod (1967), all forty pages.

The Tale of Sly Tod, modernised PDF.Download

The Tale of Sly Tod (1967) illustration from p17.