One Fine Day

Title: One Fine Day
Author: Nonny Hogrogian
Age level 1st-3rd
Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary
One Fine Day tells the story of a greedy fox who takes a trip to a forest and becomes thirsty so, without thinking, drinks from a pail of milk that an old woman had set down while she was gathering logs.  The old woman cuts off the foxes tail and forces him to go find her more milk if he wants his tail sewn back on.  He then sets out on a journey to find milk but everyone he runs into expects a favor in return for their services so he becomes very frustrated and ultimately learns an important message.

Opinion
I thought this was a very appealing and beautifully illustrated book.  The message of never taking what is not yours is a strong message that is important for children to understand and this storyline and illustration portrays that successfully.  I really liked the use of expressionism in the pictures because while reading your eye was more focused on the illustrations than on the text and it allowed you to become enthralled in the atmosphere of the story.  I also liked how the author made each character request something in return for what the fox was asking for.  This relays the message to the reader that doing one wrong may lead to a lot more problems than expected and that if the fox did not take what was not his in the first place all those problems would have been avoided.  The author began the illustrations before the actual book even started and I thought that was a great way to draw the readers attention and allow the reader to paint a mental picture of what the story was going to look like before they began reading.

I would definitly read this story in my class as a future teacher.  I think the message being sent is critical for children to learn and this book would be a great way to express it.  I would probably read this book to 1st or 2nd graders in the beginning of a unit about behavior or working with others.  My hope would be that this book would stir up a realization of what happens when you take what is not yours and the consequences of that action.