Customer Reviews

One Fine Day

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book won the Caldecott Medal as the best illustrated children's story of 1971. The vivid colors will brighten your day! The story itself is a retelling of an Armenian folk tale.

The book is exceptional for the fable, the moral it tells, and the dynamic illustrations that turn the fox's frustration into an adventure for the reader.

"One fine day

a fox traveled through a great forest.

When he reached the other side he was very thirsty."

"He saw a pail of milk that an old woman had set down

while she gathered wood for her fire."

"Before she noticed the fox, he had lapped up most of the milk."

"The woman became so angry that she grabbed her knife and

chopped off his tail . . . ."

Thus, the story begins.

The fox begs for the old woman to sew his tail back on. Otherwise, "all my friends will laugh at me."

"'Give me back my milk,' she said, 'and I'll give you back your tail.'"

The fox finds a cow who is willing to help, but wants grass in return. The fox asks a field for some grass, and the field asks for some water. The fox goes to the stream, which tells him to get a jug for the water. From there, the fox finds a fair maiden who has a jug, but wants a blue bead. The fox finds a peddler who has a blue bead, but wants an egg. An hen offers an egg in exchange for some grain. The fox finds a miller who has grain.

"The miller was a good man and felt sorry for the fox."

With the grain given to him by the miller, the fox proceeds to do all of his barters.

In the end, the old woman "carefully sewed his tail in place, and off he ran to join his friends . . . ."

As you can see, the language is simple so you will find this book helpful in assisting your child to learn to read around ages 4-6. The illustrations carefully match the words, which will help remind your child which words are on the page.

The book is valuable for introducing a number of important themes. For example, if you do something wrong, people will be angry. They may even punish you in some way.

Further, most people want something in exchange even if they are willing to help.

Beyond that, even those who want to help may not be able to (the stream could not transport the water it would give freely).

Most importantly, without the kindness of a stranger (the miller) the fox would have been out of luck . . . even with all of his efforts.

After you finish the story, I suggest that you also ask your child what lessons are here. Children are famous for spotting unintended ones as well as fundamental truths that adults easily overlook. Have a great discussion!

Seek balance in all that you do, especially when you redress an imbalance . . . whether caused by you or others! Don't forget to play the role of the miller!

Most kids of "picture book age" are attracted to cumulative tales like THE OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY or THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT because of the repetitive patterns and the easy logic to the simple plots. ONE FINE DAY is another great example of a cumulative tale. The basic story involves a talking fox who drinks an old woman's milk. In a rather violent move that doesn't seem to bother most kids the woman bloodlessly cuts off the fox's tail and refuses to "sew it back on" until the fox gives her back the milk. The now tail free but still resilant fox goes through the forest and tries to barter some milk from a cow who will give him milk if he gives her grass, a field that will yield grass if the fox will give it water, a stream that will give water if the fox brings a jug and so on. Our fox hero is finally triumphant and brings the replacement milk to the old woman who true to her word "carefully sews his tail in place" and all ends happily as the fox "ran to join his friends on the other side of the forest."

The illustrations are appropriate and well convey the setting which appears to be Eastern Europe in a past century. Kids seem to like the reassuring ending to the fox's problem as well as the classic repetition of the folk tale.

In this story, the fox has his tail cut off by a woman who is angry because the fox drank her milk. The fox asks for his tail back and the woman says only if the fox returns her milk. Herein lies the tale. The fox embarks on a journey taking him to the cow who will give him milk only if he is fed, which leads the fox to a field who will give up his grass only if he receives water, which leads the fox to the ....and the tale goes on and on. The fox does eventually get his tail back. My 3 year old son is perplexed by this story and his listens with rapt attention. It is a good bedtime story because the story builds on itself and the phrases are repeated again and again and again. This book also won a Caldecott Medal for illustration. Recommended.

A 1971 Caldecott winner, "One Fine Day" is the classic folktale of how a single mistaken act can lead to many many more. In this book, a fox walks through the forest and grows quite thirsty. Seeing a pail of milk sitting unattended, he quickly laps it up. Unfortunately, he is caught and an old woman in her anger cuts off his tail. The fox pleads with her to sew it back on, but the woman is stubborn. To get his tail back he must give her some milk. The fox then asks a cow for some milk and is told that he must first bring it some grass. The fox asks the field for grass, but it insists that he bring it some water. This goes on and on until at long last a miller with a kingly disposition turns everything around by helping the poor little fox.

In some ways, the illustrations in this tale are not too dissimilar from those of the far more contemporary Patricia Polacco. Though the pictures here are nothing to go too crazy about, they do have a nice feel to them. I admired the delicate embroidery work on the old woman's hem and headscarf. I liked the endpapers of the book, colored in with lush green trees and sunny spaces. Hogrogian uses a nice full pallete of colors that cover the entire rainbow without ever becoming gaudy or intense.

The book also struck me as very familiar when I first read it. That shouldn't be too surprising when you consider that it is based on an old old fable. The most recent version of it that I have seen in picture book form is "The Bossy Gallito" by L.M. Gonzalez. Personally, I prefer Gonzalez's version. This Caldecott award winning book is all well and good in its way, but it hasn't the zip or verve of the gallito's tale. Just my two cents.

Unless you've huge objections to fairy tale conventions like cut-off tails, there shouldn't be anything in this book to offend or distract you. It is all very pleasant in its way. As Caldecott winners go, there are better and bigger books than this out there with flashier pictures and fabulous words. This book by comparison is rather small and unassuming. Just the same, I suspect that it is greatly loved by a great many children in the world.

It is with great pleaser that I review my all time favorite Armenian story which my grandfather used to tell me. Nonny Hogrogian did a great job of translating this story. The text is almost exactly translated. The illustrations are a perfect resemblance of Armenian characters. The vast fields remind me of the rigorous landscapes of Armenia. Nonny Hogrogian did an excellent job depicting the culture.
The story is cumulative, similar to There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly and Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears. It teaches a great lesson and is bound to be an all time favorite of many children.

The abovementioned reviewer of One Fine Day has missed several fine points Nonny Hogrogrian's book possess. The books repetition of themes and jaunts of the fox are the charming and educational elements that captivate an early reader or storyteller.

The illustrations are not a modern version of Patricia Polacco. If the reviewer were familiar with the ethnic similarities of Hogrogrian's characters to Polacco's, wide and unique differences exist. Hogrogrian's characters are classic to her numerous illustrations in other books. She uses her Armenian background to give character and emotion to her drawings.

The story is a familiar one and a fable used by other writers. Hogrogrian's touch through her unique illustrations make it a winner.

The above mentioned reviewer concludes his review by stating, for a Caldecott winner, Hogrogrian's book is "small and unassuming". I would have to disagree and encourage the reviewer to not bypass the less flashy and "fab" words that exist in so many books today.

How fortunate for children everywhere, that the Caldecott Award panel chose to not overlook the quiet beauty and unique character illustrations in selecting this classic book a winner.

This children's book is about a fox who gets his tail cut off and has to negotiate to have it sewn back on. It won the 1972 Caldecott Medal for best illustrations in a children's book.

My 4 year old daughter loves this book and so do I. This is a nested story where each progressive element builds as the fox attempts to get his tail back from an old lady through bartering. The repetition allows a child to participate in the story. I like to pause to let my daughter fill in what each character needs in order to help the fox. The illustrations are vibrant and fun. Highly recommended for bedtime stories.

One fine day a fox ran through the woods on the other side he was thirsty. The fox saw a bucket of milk. There was some milk left but not much. An old lady getting wood saw him, and she cut off his tail. The lady yelled at the fox. The fox said, "Please give back my tail." The lady said, "Give me my milk!" The fox began to sob. He went to a cow. I'll give you milk for some grass. The fox went to the field. The field said give me water. He went to the stream for water and the stream said get me a jug. He found a girl. The girl said get me a bed and you can have my jug. He found a bed seller; he wanted an egg. He found a hen; the hen wanted some grain. He found and a sales man. He and gave the fox some grain and he got the milk. Was the lady still there? I recommend this book to all

An old woman chops off a fox's tale after he greedily laps up her milk. In this cumulative folk tale, the sheepish, tail-less fox must barter with man and beast to obtain milk to repay the old woman to get his tail back. The illustrations beautifully capture the penitent and forlorn character of the fox throughout his journey. The gentle hills of the eastern European countryside spread across the pages, evoking quiet rural life. This book won the Caldecott in 1972.

As a folk tale that never reveals its setting, this book really doesn't address its apparent Armenian cultural origins. The only clue as to its cultural origin is the costume of the characters: the old woman's babushka, the peddler's fez, and the miller's apron. For children, and perhaps others, this may simply read as "old-fashioned." Comparing and contrasting this with other folk tales - particularly other cumulative folk tales - from other cultures might bring these subtle cultural aspects into sharper focus for children.