A Wagonload of Fish

by Judit Z. Bodnar, Alexi Natchev (Illustrator)

Trying to satisfy his nagging wife, a peasant catches a wagonload of fish, only to be relieved of them by a hungry fox.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 18, 1996

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old peasant, tired of listening to his wife's endless complaining, her constantly expressed desire for fish, sets out to fulfill her wish in this adaptation of a traditional Hungarian folktale. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon the perspective), a hungry fox crosses his path, and feigning death, finds a way to profit from the old man's hard work...

I can't say that the depiction of the old peasant's wife was particularly pleasing - women seem to come off very badly in Hungarian folklore - but the latter half of this tale reminded me rather strongly of the French story, Renard and the Eels (found in the collection Renard the Fox ). I'm always happy to find these kind of folk parallels, and would have been interested in the second half of this tale, which Judit Bodnar left off, in order to create a more picture-book friendly narrative. The colorful illustrations by Bulgarian-born artist Alexi Natchev accentuate the humor of the tale. All in all, a very pleasing folkloric retelling, sure to entertain readers with a taste for fox tales!

[Bethany Corkran · Rating 2 out of 5]

This fiction picture book by Judit Bodnar is an intriguing tale about a husband and wife. They've lived together for ages, and one day the wife gets tired of what they usually eat on their farm. She tells her husband she wants fish, so she aggravates him until he leaves to go fishing and please his wife. He gets all of the fish, and then on the way home, a fox tricks him into leaving fish behind. The fox escapes and eats all of the fish! The old man doesn't notice, so when he arrives at home with no fish, his wife is infuriated! The story basically ends with the husband going on another craving adventure. I thought this story was totally weird because of the ending. I did not understand the wife's response, and I think it could have been written better. I would use this in my classroom for my students to learn about the cultures of Hungary since this is based on a Hungarian folk tale. I would have them research other Hungarian dishes that the wife could have eaten instead of the fish and present them to the class.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weakened by gaps in the storyline and an unsatisfying ending. Pictures are nice.