Good Day's Fishing

The bestselling author of Trout and Fly-Fishing the 41st, James Prosek, tells the story of a good day's fishing in this beautiful picture book, illustrated with the author's own gentle watercolors.

What I need for a good day's fishing is in here somewhere....
What's the secret to a good day's fishing?
Bright sun.
Cool breeze.
Favorite rod and reel.
Tackle box with bobbers,
hooks, and sinkers.
But we haven't gotten
to the secret...yet.

For those who want to learn more about how to fish, there's a comprehensive glossary of lures and flies in the back of the book. A Good Day's Fishing will make a fisherman or fisherwoman out of anyone -- even a first-timer.

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.

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

James Prosek began his writing career at the age of twenty with Trout, An Illustrated History when he was still a student at Yale University. His other books include Joe and Me: An Education in Fishing and Friendship, The Complete Angler: A Connecticut Yankee Follows in the Footsteps of Walton, and Fly-Fishing the 41st: Around the World on the 41st Parallel. He wrote and co-produced a Peabody Award-winning fishing documentary on ESPN. His first venture into children's books, A Good Day's Fishing, followed his adult books' footsteps in its popularity. He lives next to a fishing pond in Easton, Connecticut. Visit James at his website www.jamesprosek.com.