Review by Booklist Review
Ages 3^-6. Davis uses a potato instead of the traditional turnip in this retelling of a familiar folktale. When the eye of a potato grows into the biggest potato in the world, a farmer must call for reinforcements to pull the vegetable out of the ground. Help comes in the form of the farmer's wife, daughter, dog, and cat, and finally a mouse, who adds just enough extra muscle to get the job done. The potato, when it finally appears, is huge, taking up most of a double-page spread and almost burying the folks who pulled it out. It's big enough to feed all the people of the town, who completely devour it. The hilarious watercolor-and-pencil illustrations add a freshness and vitality to a classic tale of teamwork. --Helen Rosenberg
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-A sunny retelling of Tolstoy's The Great Big Enormous Turnip in which the characters work together and share the rewards of their labor. A plump, pigeon-toed farmer plants a potato eye that grows into "the biggest potato in the world." Unable to uproot it himself, he calls for his wife's assistance. The stubborn spud remains firmly planted, even after his daughter, dog, and cat are recruited. It is only with the small mouse's one-handed contribution to the group effort that the vegetable is finally ripped from the ground. The family shares its harvest with the jubilant townspeople until the potato, like the story, is gone. With cheerful golden yellow backdrops, the humorous watercolor-and-pencil illustrations reveal the chubby characters grimacing as they struggle to free the fleshy root from the muddy ground and their pleasure in consuming it. An entertaining example of teamwork and cooperation, this simply told tale would work as a read-aloud and, with its short sentences, repetition, and large print, as an easy-reader.-Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A huge potato needs every available individual--from the farmer himself to a tiny mouse--to extricate it from the soil. This rendition of the popular and ubiquitous folktale is pleasing but somewhat flat. The illustrations are rich with the tawny hues of harvest time and sport some lively comic touches. From HORN BOOK Spring 1999, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
