Opening Day

Engagingly written by Susan Bartlett for preschool and kindergarten children ages 3 to 6, "Opening Day" is a 32-page picturebook which is beautifully illustrated in full color oil paintings by Luanne Wrenn. It's the story of a young boy named Sam whose best friend Eric loves to hunt. Eric and his Dad have invited Sam to hunt with them on the opening day of deer season. But Sam's mother is a vegetarian while his own father just wants to buy meat for the family table at their local grocery store. Sam is faced with the possibility of losing out on his friendship with Eric or possibly disappointing his family. A compellingly and skillfully presented story about friendship, "Opening Day" is enhanced with age appropriate information about deer habits and habitat, as well as tracking and hunting. A truly elegant story, "Opening Day" is as entertaining as it is thoughtful and a very strongly recommended addition to family, preschool, elementary school, and community library picturebook collections.

I'm a tofu eater, not a hunter, so I was curious about this children's book. What I found was a really marvelous book that clearly presents two different perspectives--those of the hunter and non-hunter--in an unbiased way. Actually what remained with me most was the sense of nature and the animals encountered in the snowy woods. For a child interested in hunting or in the question of hunting this is an excellent book. For me though one of the strongest points in OPENING DAY is the concept that people with different views can nevertheless be good friends.

As the father of a 9 year old who insists on being read to, and enjoys illustrated books above others, I liked this book and so did my son, Zach. I also fit into the almost-vegetarian category of the main character Sam's parents, and the truth is, i find hunters and hunting a bit scary, so i was really happy to share a book with Zach that made being in the woods and friendship the focus of a hunting book. Also, it helped me reflect on what my prejudice might be, like thinking there is something wrong about hunting. But in the end , my favorite part was the message that we all make mistakes, like Sam does, and that is ok, we can just keep trying. I thought the ilustrations were a bit clumsy at first, but now i have read it a couple of times, i am noting how well they work with the text, and i am starting to like them alot.