Customer Reviews

Enormous Potato, The

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My 2 year old son LOVES this book. What makes it even better is that I enjoy reading it too. The premise is simple - a potato grows so big the farmer can't pull it out so he calls his wife to help and then she calls the daughter and so on. After it is finally out, the family shares it with the town. We love the rythmic wording and watercolor pictures. Give it a chance, it's cuter than these descriptions make it sound.

My young children loved this book. It has a simple, rhythmic story line that builds satisfyingly to an exciting conclusion, when the family finally pulls the huge potato out of the ground. The illustrations are lively and amusing. This book is just right for children under six. Personally, I even found the unembellished nature of the book refreshing, and I read lots of books to kids every day!

Delightful illustrations combined with a silly text brought laughter to my 4-year-old grandson. Recommended!

What qualities does a Spudman seek while surveying a children's literature book? Foremost on my list of qualities is the fun factor. Does the author present a preposterous, outlandish situation, or perhaps someone or something silly, or a storyline a little outside the box? Is there any suspense, excitement, or adventure therein? Does the book have at least one likeable or memorable character and illustrations that mesh with the text to enhance, reinforce, clarify, and contextualize? Does the author use reasonable, age appropriate vocabulary with contextual or picture clues for the more difficult words? Does he or she use repetition to reinforce and give practice for newly introduced words or incorporate predictable patterns with words, phrases or rhyme? Is there a lesson to be learned from the story or a good example to follow? Is it an effective teaching tool masquerading as pure fun and entertainment, like a functional mini van with lots of chrome, flame decals and a Potato Head hood ornament? And, of course, is the plot potato driven?

The ENORMOUS Potato, written by Aubrey Davis and illustrated by Dusan (yes, Dusan) Petricic) is one of those rare gems with most of the above ingredients and more to ingratiate it to this writer. It is a wholesome retelling of Aleksei Tolstoy's "The Gigantic Turnip". Aleksei's "War and Peas" is not to be confused with Leo's grand "War and Peace." The ENORMOUS Potato is a deceptively simple book rich in story and learning value, one greater than the sum of its parts.

They say a book can't be judged by its cover, yet the colossal spud spanning front and back covers and the feet of the characters behind it lifting with all their might foreshadow the tale within, the tale of a potato of unprecedented size and a family's Herculean efforts to harvest and ultimately share it with others.

Spudopsis

A farmer plants a potato eye that naturally grows into a potato. This one, however, continues to grow beyond normalcy, exceeding in size any potato ever grown on earth. The farmer's efforts to pull the gargantuan spud out of the ground are futile so he calls his wife for assistance. In turn the daughter, the dog, the cat and lastly the little mouse are summoned. Finally with each pulling in unison "RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...RIP! Out came the potato!"

They are impressed by the size of the potato while the daughter notices how dirty it is.

Together they wash, chop, and cook portions of this gigantic vegetable. The smell of cooking potatoes draws the people from town who with forks, bowls, butter and salt, join in the potato feast. They all eat and enjoy until the potato and the story are no more.

Odds and Ends

The illustrations in the Enormous Potato are excellent. The watercolor medium is subtle yet expressive, subdued yet effective, a palette of earthen tans, browns and orange hues that are a perfect plate for a potato presentation. The family's faces are round and potato like, the father's nose a potato clone. There's a two-page scene illustrating the townspeople devouring big potato chunks, their noses mirroring the shapes of those chunks.

I like the repetition of words and phrases used by the author; it is somewhat reminiscent of "The Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." The repetitive rhythm is fun and predictable, never boring or dull. It is the kind of text that invites reading aloud, maybe even in chorus. The word potato was used 22 times but always in a fresh context with new details added. Thus the repetition is valuable reinforcement, not tedium or boredom.

I read this with a six-year-old who loved it, and unsolicited observed and commented on the aspects of sharing, helping and cooperation in the story. This was an unexpected bonus, for me at least.

It's noteworthy that the author even uses font size expressively as the font size grows progressively larger each time a new character is calling for help, showing a growing desperation and need for assistance.

I really enjoyed this book and can recommend it unconditionally. It's much better than another book I previously read, also about a giant potato Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato The previous book features a lazy, selfish opportunist, while this book extols family, cooperation, helpfulness, and sharing. Check it out.

I had a great time using this book in the classroom last year with Kindergarteners and 1st graders. We created a whole storybook curriculum around it and other related stories (The Enormous Turnip and The Giant Carrot). The kids instantly picked up on the repetition and loved to act out pulling the potato out of the ground as we read the story. Great book that the kids wanted to read again and again!

This retelling of the folktale shows what can be done when everyone pitches in to do something that might otherwise seem an impossible task. This is a book for very young children.

DeeDee Fox, author and illustrator, The Ruby Red Slipper