``It grew and it grew and it grew'' is a familiar chant among readers who know the classic Russian folktale of the giant turnip. Picture, instead, one heck of a carrot, along with a rollicking ensemble of barefooted folks just itching to drink a tall glass of carrot juice, or, as Mama Bess puts it, ``park my lips on a wide bowl of carrot stew.'' She, Papa Joe, and Brother Abel, plant the teeny-tiny seed and water it, but it is sweet Little Isabelle who sings and dances that carrot sprout right up out of the ground. In fact, her singing and dancing seem to be the reasons that carrot become enormous, which no one realizes until it pops out of the ground on Little Isabelle's high note. In scenes that exhibit Root's characteristically zany, uninhibited style, Little Isabelle somersaults outside a tumbledown shack stacked five deep with jars of carrot juice and relish; a pink Chevy perches atop cinderblocks, and Mama Bess soars through the air and lands on a pig. The watercolor and gouache illustrations, lit by orange sunsets, are perfectly paired with a countrified dialect—their ``mouths fell halfway to their toes''—that adds to the down-on-the-farm flavor. A recipe for carrot pudding tops off this frolicsome adaptation of an old tale. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-8037-1823-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
