THE VERY BIG CARROT

Decorative design? Yes. Scintillating story? Not so much.

The small trim size (6 inches by 8 inches) makes a slightly larger-than–life-sized carrot seem very big indeed; it never actually fits on the double-page spreads. Six puffy rabbits with indistinguishable personalities find the vegetable and then wonder what to do with it—five times. The repetitive syntax and vocabulary make the text sound like it escaped from an early reader: “What else could they do with the very big carrot? Maybe they could….” After making it into a boat, airplane, sky garden and house, they eat it. The end. Tone has an eye for pattern and composition. The cover is indicative of her style: Six white rabbits sit in a row on top of a circular orange base. They are shaded by a triangular, fringed canopy of carrot leaves. Delicate green fronds fill every inch around the base, while circular, veined leaves in shades of tangerine and peach, dotted with white stars, bleed off the top of the jacket. This will likely appeal to adults who appreciate adorned surfaces. For engaging storytelling, stick with Margaret Wise Brown’s The Runaway Bunny or try Aaron Reynold and Peter Brown’s Creepy Carrots (2012).

There is not enough humor, emotion, action or conflict, nor are there sufficient details for children to notice in the visual narrative, to encourage repeated readings