One Fine Day

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.

I remember this book from childhood, and I also recall being disturbed by the mutilation motif.

Looking at it in hindsight, this book sends a somewhat disturbing Freudian message that amounts to, "If you aren't good, you'll be castrated" - I.E. Have your individuality/power/self taken away, as symbolised by the foxes tail (What else do you think of when you think of a fox? It's what makes him "foxlike" - his "self").

Corporal punishment, thinly-veiled castration motifs, and work-with-the-group-or-lose-your-identity message make this a no-go for any child of mine, Caldecott or no. Either that or I'll name my kid Little Hans (gittit, Freud fans?)...

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.

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.