Customer Reviews

One Potato, Two Potato

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really enjoyed this book. The story sounded a lot like one I had heard as a kid many years ago, but this one was different. It had a sweeter ending. It is 30 pages long with pretty good text and very good illustrations.

The story is about an old husband-wife farming team who is poor and frugal. One day when their food supply was about to run out they found a large magical iron pot buried on their land which duplicates whatever is put into it. They put some necessaries in the pot and some money - out came twice as much as was put in. The most interesting thing was that the pot worked on people just as it did on things.

I probably would have liked the book better if the main characters had not been so poor and simple. I did not see the point in it. But they seemed like such nice people. 5 stars!

One Potato, Two Potato is exactly the kind of book I love using with my students! It pulls them in and keeps them guessing and excited til the end. I always know Mrs. DeFelice's picture books are kid friendly and fun to share!

This is a sweet story of love and caring with a surprising magical element. The illustrations by Andrea U'Ren support and carry the story beautifully. A delightful book!

With its large pages and oversized characters, this book begs to be read to or shared with a group of youngsters. Some of the sentences are lengthy and complex in structure, but the understandable vocabulary and repetition of important words makes the story easy to understand and follow. Some of the more difficult words contained therein are: raggedy, weevil, pretended, memories, garden, curious, exclaimed, oughtn't, trembling, mattress, excitement, packages, difference, moaned, and entomologist. Just kidding about that last one. This uncomplicated story is well within the listening comprehension parameters of the target age group, but precious few first or second graders could read One Potato, Two Potato independently. This is a great book for kindling rich discussion of human nature and motivations. A teacher or parent could stop the story at several critical points in the plot and ask his or her listeners to make predictions.

Andrea U'Ren's large pen and gouache illustrations are wonderfully captivating. Her use of subdued, earth colors and vast expanses of bare walls and floor reinforce the story text. Mr. and Mrs. O'Grady, impossibly tall and lanky with spindly, Olive Oyl legs, have large expressive faces that convey warmth, mutual love, and subtle degrees of sadness, pain, and joy.

Potatoes are abundant in this tater intense book. Almost every page features potatoes represented verbally, graphically, or both.

Students from 5 to 13 with whom I shared this book were drawn to its quirkily fashioned characters and classic storyline. Even one who has reached old fartdom, like this writer, can appreciate and enjoy the craft of the artist and the story telling wizardry of the author. I especially like the generosity, thoughtfulness and lack of greed or excess shown by the book's characters. The author's use of humor is unassuming, yet effective. There's much to like about One Potato, Two Potato. I recommend it.

Mr. and Mrs. O'Grady were so skinny that they could sit side by side on their only chair to share their one potato for dinner. They were so poor that they only had one raggedy coat, which they took turns wearing in the winter.

Then came the day when Mr. O'Grady dug the last potato from his garden, and underneath that potato....why, it was a pot! He toted it home, and the O'Gradys soon discovered that it was not an ordinary pot.

Delightful pen and gouache illustrations add to this cheerful folktale. Ages. 3-8.

Mr. and Mrs. O'Grady lived a very simple life. They were so poor, they had to share everything: one holy blanket, one chair, and a single potato which would serve as breakfast, lunch and dinner. Despite their lack of material wealth, they were happy and content. The only element missing from each of their lives was a friend. A magic pot provided them with the necessities of life and friends as well.
The O'Gradys were kind, loving, people who could have become rich, but chose instead, to share their good fortune by reburying the pot for someone else in need to find.
I enjoyed this refreshing twist, a good story to discuss what is really important in life: friends, family and thinking of others.

Our daughters love this story! And it is a fun one to read out loud. Great friendship, magic, love and dialogue in a short book. Perfect for preschoolers.

My ONLY problem with the book is that the illustrated characters look deathly thin. I mean, I know they are only eating potatoes...but yikes!

According to my kids, Sue and Parth, there is magic in every page. You can read it again and again and never get bored.

Mr. and Mrs. O'Grady dirt poor and have to share all their raggedy belongings - one potato a day, one blanket, etc. Yet all they want in life is one friend apiece, so when a magic pot unearthed in the garden produces double of everything, their wishes seem to come true - or do they? Andrea U'Ren's drawings are a fun accompaniment to an unexpected largess and dilemma.

(Originally posted in 2009)

I'm predicting this will be next year's winning Texas Bluebonnet Award book. Mr. and Mrs. O'Grady are terribly poor, so poor they must share everything, even their blanket, their coat, and, each day, a single potato. Then Mr. O'Grady digs up a black pot with the mysterious power to double everything put into it. The O'Gradys are now magnificently rich. Then Mrs. O'Grady falls into the pot and Mr. O'Grady jumps in. The two have everything they need in life, including friendship. I especially liked how the O'Gradys, after coming into such wealth, took the pot back and buried it again, for someone else to find and use.