HOW DOES A CZAR EAT POTATOES?

by Anne Rose ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 27, 1973

Potatoes? You raise a wall of butter and a soldier with a cannon shoots potatoes through the butter into the czar's mouth. And that's the way, that's the way a czar eats potatoes."" Whereas father ""grabs a handful and eats them fast. . . with some cabbage, if there's any."" Janosch's primitive, buoyant pictures perfectly complement Rose's brisk question-and-answer catalog that contrasts father's hard life and peasant ways (""My father, bathe? In the summer when it's hot the river awaits him. In the winter when it's cold he waits for summer"") with childlike images of the czar's pampered extravagance. But when it comes to how each is happy, who would choose the czar's ""Feathered horses and clashing swords. He struts and scowls. The war is won"" over Father's dusty boots and shiny face ""as he leaps above the dancers' heads"" to violins and balalaikas, ""happier than a czar""? The rhythm and variety offer story hour potential, the structure and simplicity offer room for listeners' addenda, and the finale offers satisfaction all around.

Pub Date: Aug. 27, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1973

Categories: CHILDREN'S