From Publishers Weekly
In the vine-fringed, semicircular village of Ear, famous for its "scrumptious grape juice," lives Sixto Poblano, a boy so named for having six toes on each foot. Sixto frequently goes barefoot: "At the shoe store there was never a good fit, and when he ran he often tripped." On the plus side, he excels at kickball, and during a game his powerful tootsies come to the attention of a juice magnate. Boss Nova Boombatz, a shady guy with a pencil mustache and porkpie hat, recruits Sixto for harvest time: "We in Ear pick, pluck, and stomp—that is our sworn duty," Boombatz says persuasively. Sixto reluctantly climbs into a wooden barrel of grapes and stomps "once, then twice, and because his spare toes made his feet so worldly wide, all the juicy grapes were now grape juicy." The other stompers are amazed: "
Two stomps? Unheard of!" In florid prose, Madison (
Pecorino's First Concert) elevates Sixto to legendary status, and details the downfall of taskmaster Boombatz. Potter (
Sleeping Bobby), whose drily funny paintings emit a folklorish, Old World quality, may be the ideal illustrator for this book. She concentrates on Sixto's feet and pictures him up to his chest in grapes, wearing nothing but briefs, yet still implies his melancholic dignity. She brings a festive carnival air to the grape stomping rituals. The discomfiting combination of bare feet and "deeeliciousss!" grape juice only adds to the flavor of this tall tale. Ages 4-8.
(Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2—This story takes place in the village of Ear, which is famous for making scrumptious grape juice. One day, Boss Nova Boombatz, "the big head of all things grape," drafts Sixto Poblano (so named because he has six toes on each foot) to stomp on his fruit, thinking that the boy's extra toes will help him accomplish his task much faster. The other stompers are astonished to see that it only takes him two stomps to squish an entire barrel. The talented Sixto gets bullied by Boss Nova into working day after day, when he would much rather be playing kickball with his friends. Boss Nova agrees to let him go after he completes one more task—to squish a gigantic vat of grapes that takes 40 days for the townspeople to fill. As the village orchestra plays, Sixto dives in and stomps away for seven straight days until, in danger of drowning in all that juice, he kicks out the cork. The boy escapes, surfing a purple tidal wave that sweeps all the town's inhabitants onto a far hill and fills the valley with what becomes known as the Grape Lakes. He goes back to playing with his friends and Boss Nova is never heard from again. The stylized pencil, ink, gouache, gesso, and watercolor artwork is vintage Potter in all its quirky glory. Although Sixto is described as an amiable fellow, the pictures of a purple-stained boy in his skivvies may not be everyone's cup of tea. Many readers may find the American tall tale of Paul Bunyan making the Great Lakes more engaging.—
Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
