#blogbookaday: Fox and the Jumping Contest

Summary:  “Fox and the Jumping Contest is a funny, surprising picture book starring Fox—a lovable modern-day trickster character—and his animal friends, from debut author-illustrator Corey R. Tabor.
Fox really, really wants to win the jumping contest. He knows just where he’ll put that first-place trophy. The only problem? Fox is not a very good jumper. But he is a very good schemer. . . .

Fox and the Jumping Contest is a perfect pick for readers who enjoy humorous picture books like The Day the Crayons Quit and Dragons Love Tacos. “(Taken from Goodreads)

Review: Fox wants nothing more than to win the big jumping contest and is ready to do so with a little extra help – a jetpack! Being the trickster that he is, he’ll stop at nothing to win, but he didn’t account for quite so much boost and ends up in outer space! This is a funny story with great illustrations – just be prepared to talk with kids at the end to reinforce that winning isn’t everything and that hard work and trying your best is more important.

Personal Reaction: I don’t think every story needs to have a moral or that you can’t have a little fun, but when the Fox gets half the trophy because he “won” by cheating, I’m not sure it’s sending the right message to kids. Now, this would be the perfect story to read to kids and have a discussion about talent and hard work and that sometimes you aren’t going to win, like elephant and that you have to try your hardest and do your best, and accept the outcomes. You can also tie in other stories to show how foxes have often been displayed as trickster animals in folklore. But I did love the illustrations, especially that if you look closely you can see fox throughout the story falling back to Earth in each spread, which is sure to make kids giggle. And I loved the elephant who couldn’t jump, but tried it’s best and was happy with the results – so sweet!

Title: Fox and the Jumping Contest
Author: Corey R. Tabor
Illustrator: Corey R. Tabor
Publisher: Balzar + Bray
Publication Date: October 25, 2016

This is a new idea I’m trying on my blog this year that was inspired by @donalynbooks and @heisereads – to provide a brief review of a picture book every day of 2018. You’ll get a brief summary of the story, a review of the content, illustrations and theme, my personal reaction to the book and all the pertinent publication information! Enjoy!