25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Foxy stuff, November 2, 2005
This review is from: My Lucky Day (Hardcover)
Every children's librarian has their storytime "secret weapon". The picture book that, should all else fail, will completely suck in and delight all children within hearing distance of the storyteller's voice. Some librarians swear by "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus", by Mo Willems. Others keep a copy of "Bark, George", by Jules Feiffer at hand at all times. Finally, there are those amongst us for whom nothing but "Duck On a Bike", by Dave Shannon is the answer. Myself? I figure a person can't go wrong with Keiko Kasza's masterpiece, "My Lucky Day". Telling a tale eerily similar to her early and tepid, "The Wolf's Chicken Stew", Kasza gives us a brilliant picture book custom-made for the storytime tellers amongst us. Keep you Shannons and your Feiffers. Give me a good Kasza anytime.
A fox is just about getting ready for a night's hunt for his dinner when who should come knocking on his door but a wayward piglet. The piglet, mistaking the fox's home for that of his friend Rabbit, is aghast at the situation, but the fox is understandably delighted. Whisking the protesting porker into his home, the carnivore is eager to plop the piggy into the roasting pan. Now condemned to his fate, the piglet points out that he is truly filthy. So the fox runs a variety of different errands and ends up giving the piglet a terrific bath. The piglet is once again in the frying pan when it points out that it's a rather small porker. Wouldn't some fattening up be a good idea? "Just a thought, Mr. Fox". So the fox runs around frantically and cooks up a fabulous meal for the pig. When at last it seems that the pig will finally be a tasty treat, it points out that its meat is mighty tough and that a massage should be in order. So effective is this massage too, that it completely exhausts the now prone figure of the fox. The piglet takes his leave and scratches off "Mr. Fox" from his address book. "Who shall I visit next?". The final picture in the book is of a once more dirty piggy staring up in "horror" at a grinning bear.
Like "Bark, George", this is one of those picture book endings that kids just "get". Once when I pulled it out and announced that I'd be reading it during my storytime, a five-year-old sagely elbowed the fellow next to him and announced in a stage whisper that this was a "really funny" book that he'd already heard at school. I can attest that even if your audience members know what is coming and laugh ahead of the jokes, it still makes for a wonderful reading. Much of this is due to Kasza's illustrations. Whenever the pig sends the fox on a job of some sort, we get a great series of images, showing the bushy tailed fellow running hither and thither. The massage sequence is especially amusing. First of all, how many picture books can you come up with off the top of your head that show different types of massage? The idea is so preposterous that it works beautifully within the context of the story. And when at last the fox can take it no longer and slips backwards onto the floor in a stupor, his claws leave deep indentations on the bench where the piglet is reclining. The single sentence of "Mr. Fox, are you there?" coupled with the swiftly retreating paws gets a laugh every time.
In the text, Kasza gives us a marvelous story that will remain a classic from here on in. She gives us rising and falling action, a protagonist who belies his seeming innocence at the start of the tale, plenty of spoonfuls of humor, and a twist ending that no one sees coming. I read this book aloud to a group of high school students and they adored it. Everyone does, it seems. Though (sad to say) Ms. Kasza hasn't written anything to match this book in brilliance, we can at least hold "My Lucky Day" in our hands and give thanks that she came up with what she did. If you have a library collection of any sort (be it personal, professional, or just a shack somewhere with a single shelf to its name) this is a must-own book. If you tell stories to kids, add this puppy to your repertoire ASAP. A keeper.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved this book, April 13, 2004
This review is from: My Lucky Day (Hardcover)
Our family loves this book! My husband will use the catchy phrase "just a thought Mr. Fox" when ending sentences with us. This is a wonderful book that our daughter instantly made one of her favorites. We read this book at least three times a week and sometimes more.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cleverly crafted and delightful!, December 23, 2003
This review is from: My Lucky Day (Hardcover)
I have three sons, ages 2, 4, and 7, who are captivated by this book and bombard me with requests to "Read it again, Mommy!" My two year old refers to My Lucky Day as his favorite book, and he carries it everywhere. Not only is the story line clever, but the illustrations are also fabulous. The last time I read a children's story with an ending this clever was when I got Bark, George, by Jules Pfeiffer.
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