One Fine Day

The story, inspired by an Armenian folktale, is rhythmic and cumulative, reminiscent of The Old Woman and Her Pig.  In Hogrogian's tale, the fox has his tail cut off by an old woman, whose pail of milk he drinks because he is thirsty.  The woman says she will sew the tail back on again when the fox returns the milk.  Everyone who could help him--the cow, the meadow, the water, the maiden, the peddler, the hen--wants something in exchange for that help.  "The miller was a good man and felt sorry for the fox" so he starts things moving in the right direction.

The full-color paintings are sunny and gay with just the right amount of detail to make each character a distinct personality.  Mr. Fox expresses his feelings and personality not only by facial expressions, but with every line of his body.  From end paper to end paper, he is debonair, pleading, sly, cowering, clever, desperate, triumphant.  While fox and sun move across the softly hued, well-designed, double-page spreads, the day moves from morning to sunset.