GROWING VEGETABLE SOUP

A very simple text about planting and growing a vegetable garden is accompanied by psychedelically bright illustrations. A red watering can held by a magenta hand on a green ground a hot-orange spade against blue—these colors are painfully vivid, jumping around on the page to the point of diverting attention from any pattern or information conveyed. Information is minimal anyway—seeds are planted and grow in an unrealistic medley, and the forms are so generalized that they would be recognizable only to someone already familiar with the various plants. The book concludes with a portrait of a vegetable soup that doesn't look like something to eat (although the jacket flap provides a simple recipe a kindergarten class could make). A plausible notion for a book, shouted down by garish illustrations.