A Good Day's Fishing (Hardcover)

by James Prosek (Author, Illustrator) "This is my tackle box..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-The author of the decidedly handsome adult book Trout (Knopf, 1996) turns his careful pen and deft paintbrush to an equally handsome work for children. Here, a young narrator conveys his love of fishing by describing the contents of his tackle box and identifying the species that each lure is designed to catch. A spinner (for perch), flies "tied from furs and feathers" (for trout), and a variety of hooks ("Aren't they cool?") are among the equipment presented in the very brief text and luminous watercolors. At the end, the child digs out the item most essential for "a good day's fishing"-"my hat." A five-page glossary carefully defines the wide variety of lures portrayed, from spinners to spoons, dry flies to jigs. This title will appeal to readers who enjoyed such offerings as William T. George's attractive Fishing at Long Pond (Greenwillow, 1991; o.p.) and Nina Kidd's suspenseful June Mountain Secret (HarperCollins, 1991; o.p.), but are not yet ready for the complexities of Jim Arnosky's colorful Freshwater Fish & Fishing (Scholastic, 1982) or his personal Flies in the Water, Fish in the Air (HarperCollins, 1986; o.p.). Prosek's book is a special treat that may lure to the surface the ever-hopeful fisherperson lurking in youngsters' inner depths.
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 2-4, younger for reading aloud. Prosek is an expert on fly-fishing and the author of several popular adult books, including Trout: An Illustrated History (1996). Here, Prosek offers young readers a beautifully illustrated, simple story about a good day's fishing. In a simple, descriptive text that contains a few humorous surprises, a child describes the many bobbers, hooks, lures, and other paraphernalia he finds as he searches through his tackle box for the one thing he needs to guarantee a successful catch. In the end, though, the boy's lucky item isn't the hooks in his box--it's the hat on his head. The appended lure and fly glossary is well done, but it is probably too detailed for the younger range of the book's audience. Nonetheless, young fishing enthusiasts will certainly learn more about which tackle works best to catch particular kinds of fish, while the wonderfully detailed, gentle watercolor illustrations of fish and gear offer a lovely introduction. Ed Sullivan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (February 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689853270
• ISBN-13: 978-0689853272
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #205,554 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for those who need it, April 27, 2005

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I am a librarian who loves the vast variety of humankind. I love knowing that when I walk down the street I could easily be walking past the greatest parachutist or professional kite flyer in the world, and I would never know. The hobbies and talents of the people of this world takes my breath away. Which makes reviewing a title like, "A Good Day's Fishing" an incredibly complex arrangement. First of all, I have never fished. Not a day of my life. This isn't because I dislike fishing or find it disgusting in some way. I've just never been a situation where someone handed me a pole and a tackle box and said, "Let's catch a few" (or words to that extent). Like many people I've flipped past fishing shows on PBS on cloudy Sunday afternoons and idly wondered who watches that stuff. But I have every respect for the people who enjoy the sport. Author James Prosek enjoys the sport. He enjoys it so much that he's written and illustrated multiple texts on trout, fly fishing, and other such topics. He's sort of the author/illustrator prodigy of the fish world. And now, at the grand old age of 29, he's switched his focus to children's books. No matter how big an author, no matter what their specialty, sooner or later everyone tries to write a book for kids. And that's where I come in. Looking "A Good Day's Fishing" over, I was baffled. As I've mentioned, I'm not exactly experienced in the hobby. I mean, I really enjoyed the recent children's book by Cynthia DeFelice, "The Missing Manatee", that outlines fishing in great exciting detail. But a picture book that simply catalogues the things you need to catch yourself a crappie or a pumpkinseed sunfish.... let's just say that there's a very specific type of child that's going to find this book enthralling.

Now the book follows a kid as he goes through his tackle box and tells the reader that, "what I need for a good day's fishing is in here somewhere!". We look at various lures and the fish each one is adept at catching. There are spinners for yellow perch and bobbers and sinkers to catch carp. We see extra line and a wide range of hooks (which, the hero notes, are cool) alongside forgotten maggoty sandwiches (my favorite part, actually) and a stray eel. There are rods and plugs and flies and lures. And finally, "my hat", which ends the text. We are then treated to a large lure and fly glossary that tells you absolutely every last little thing you ever needed to know about the equipment listed in the book.

This kind of book is so specialized that I cannot really recommend it to anyone who ISN'T downright fascinated by fishing. But if your child leaps at the chance of standing alongside large bodies of water with their own little tacklebox, then I can think of no book better than this one. Admittedly, I'm a little baffled as to why this book got on the New York Public Library's 2004 100 Books to Remember list. It's too specific to please a great many people (and frankly, if you're not a fisherperson yourself, the glossary reads like stereo instructions). But Prosek's put his heart into it, and it shows. Wielding his watercolor brush with great panache he's as adept at drawing the tiniest little white maggot as he is a largemouth bass gunning for a plug. This is a lovely book to look at. And detailed out the wazoo.

So if you like fishing and want your kids to like it (or they already do) then this is the perfect picture book for them. If you've merely a mild interest in the sport, however, avoid this book at all costs. For those that need it, nothing else will do. For those that don't, there are other fishies in the sea.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Casting about for Stories, December 29, 2006

By	Gwynne C. Spencer (Monmouth, Oregon) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've always suspected that fishing's allure has a lot to do with the stories that inevitably come from each outing. This handsome picture book is a delight and would be a fine gift for a fisherman of ANY age, up to about 100 years old, I suspect. It introduces the reader to the magical secret world of lures, bobbers, other equipment that allow the wily fisherman to prevail over his hapless object of attention. It draws the reader back to the page, like the fisherman is drawn back to the stream where success was so close, and opens up the possibilities of "next time" and "maybe tomorrow" for fishers of all ages.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Day's Fishing, December 29, 2008

By	Karen S. Conde "book lover" (North Canton, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read this book in the book store and decided this was the book I needed to purchase for our son to read to his son. They enjoy fishing on any free day during the summer and this book provides our grandson some good knowledge of fish and equipment.