Fox in Socks

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Fox in Socks
Author	Dr. Seuss
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Children's literature
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	1965
Media type	Print (Hardcover and paperback)
OCLC	304375
Preceded by	Hop on Pop
Followed by	I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew

Fox in Socks is a children's book by Dr. Seuss, first published in 1965. It features two main characters, the Fox and Mr. Knox, who converse almost entirely in densely rhyming tongue-twisters.

The book in some ways bears a resemblance to Green Eggs and Ham, another book by Dr. Seuss. Both stories contain two main characters: one who is stubborn and wants to be left alone; the other, a persistent and sometimes annoying opposite.

[edit] Storyline

The book begins by introducing the main characters, the Fox and Mr. Knox (sometimes called simply "Knox"), and some props (a box and a pair of socks). After taking those four rhyming items though several combinations, more items are added (chicks, bricks, blocks, clocks), and so on. As the book progresses the Fox describes each situation with rhymes that progress in complexity, with Knox periodically complaining of the difficulty of the tongue-twisters.

Finally, after the Fox gives an extended dissertation on "Tweetle Beetles" who fight (battle) with paddles while standing in a puddle inside a bottle ("a Tweetle Beetle Bottle Puddle Paddle Battle Muddle"), Knox finally pushes the Fox into the bottle and recites a tongue-twister of his own:

"When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetles battle with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle, THIS is what they call...

...a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled wuddled fox in socks, sir!"

Knox then declares that the game is finished, thanking the Fox for the fun, and walks away while the beetles, the poodle, and the stunned Fox look on.

[edit] Adaptations

The Tweetle Beetle skit was featured in The Hoober-Bloob Highway, a 1975 CBS television special. Here, the skit was part of a job: that of a "Famous Tweetle Beetle Statistician". If you took on this job, "you could be the world's greatest authority on Tweetle Beetle battlistics, if you study Tweetle Beetles and their ballistic characteristics." It ended by cutting back to the base, with Mr. Hoober-Bloob waving his arms around, covering his ears, and yelling, "Stop it! Stop it! I can't stand it! That world is a vastly cruddy, bloody bore!" The dissertation was read by Bob Holt, the voice of Mr. Hoober-Bloob, using a German impression similar to Ludwig von Drake.

Both Fox and Knox were also recurring characters on The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, a 1996–1997 television series series that featured numerous Dr. Seuss characters.

The reference of Tweetle Beetles and their battles are possibly based on the battling Tweedledum and Tweedledee of Through the Looking-Glass.

[edit] In popular culture

The book is mentioned by B. J. Novak in commentary for "Business School", an episode of the United States television series The Office. In a tongue-in-cheek sense, he calls it to "convoluted", "odd" and a "failed sequel" to Seuss's previous book, Hop on Pop.