The Enormous Potato (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

Aubrey Davis is a Toronto author and storyteller. He likes to tell and write puzzling, often funny tales that make people think. His last book, Bagels from Benny, has won the Canadian Jewish Book Award (children's literature) and the Sydney Taylor Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries.

PreSchool-Grade 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
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