My Lucky Day was written and illustrated by Keiko Kasza. My Lucky Day is a terrific, silly, children's story the author keeps the reader guessing until the end. The story starts off when a unsuspecting piglet accidentally knocks on the door of Mr.Fox's house. Mr.Fox is so excited how lucky could he be to have his dinner show up on his doorstep? Is Mr.Fox truly lucky or is there trickery at foot? In a twist of fate and luck the coy piglet master manipulates the wiley fox into giving him a bath, a full tummy, a massage, and his freedom.
The illustrations in My Lucky Day are great. What I love most about them is that they tell the story all on their own if a child couldn't read they could get the jest of the story just by the imagery. I think the illustration are a very important aspect and aid to the text in the story. One of my favorite images from the story was the first image the readers see of the piglet and the last image we see of the piglet. The first time readers see the piglet he looks scared and startled by the fox answering the door. The reader at this point is thinking oh no the fox is going to eat the pig and they typically are feeling bad for him. By the end of the story again the reader is given an image of a scared and startled piglet being stared at by a bear. This time the reader no longer feels that pity for the piglet or worry of his fate, instead the reader is happy because he/she knows who's lucky day it is.
The intended interest level for My Lucky Day is for Kindergarten-second grade. However I believe that it can be applied to children of all ages as far as being used in literature. The genre of this book is folktale, comedy, myths fantasy
One of the biggest literary devices found in the story My Lucky Day is personification. Personification is when human qualities are given to non-human things like animals or inanimate objects. I think this story would be an excellent teaching aid for introducing students to the ideal of what personification is. One of the first images and wording of personification that readers encounter comes from the very first page of the story. A very hungry fox is preparing for a hunt and he is polishing his claws. Polishing, nail clippers, nail file, brush, book on hunting are all things that we would expect a person to use but not animals.
Classroom Application:
Critical Thinking Preliminary and Post Reading Questions
- Before teachers begin reading My Lucky Day to students they should begin by showing students the cover of the book a long with a few images to get them thinking about what the story might be about.
Teachers should ask questions about the chosen images to get the students engaged and problem solving. Some question that could be asked include: What do you think this story is going to be about?, What do you think is going to happen to the piglet?, The story is called My Lucky Day but who's lucky day do you think it will be?, Why does the fox look so angry?, Why is the fox massaging the piglet?, etc. - After reading My Lucky Day teachers should expand on the reading by asking questions that will get students thinking about the future and what happened in the story. For example: Do you think that the bear will be as easily tricked as the fox was?, What person view point was the story told in and give an example to defend your response?, etc.
Demonstrating Cause and Effect
- Why do you think that the piglet knocked on the fox's door?
- Do you know why the fox took the piglet?
- Why was the fox so tired at the end of the story?
- Why did the piglet cry out when the fox grabbed him?
Character Analysis
- Describe the piglet?
- Describe the fox?
- What do the piglet and the fox have in common?
Personal Connections
- Teachers should ask students what things from the story they can relate to their own lives. For example helping a parent cook a meal, taking a bath, getting their backs rubbed by their parents, etc.
Sequencing Skills
- Teachers can expand on student sequencing skills by asking students to draw several pictures about their favorite parts of the story and then having them put their pictures in order of how they occurred in the story.
Summarizing the Story
- The teacher can call on students to help summarizing what happened in the story they just read. The teacher should ask each student to add to the summary before summarizing herself/himself about what happened in the story.
Theme
- The teacher should ask students to write down what they think the purpose or theme of the story was. It could have been rooting for the underdog, be careful of deception, etc.
Interactive Fun
- I think it would be nice if it is possible for the teacher and a counter part to act out the story of My Lucky Day for the class. I found a video of it being done and it seems like something students would really enjoy and it would give them another visual element to relate back to the story.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eotfvS49Wy0
