Potato Man [Paperback]

M Mcdonald (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

Grandpa tells stories of the fruit and vegetable huckster in his childhood neighborhood, a man he learns to appreciate after a rocky start.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When the Potato Man came to East Street, a white-haired man tells his wide-eyed grandchildren, bad luck came with him. Back then, the narrator was a boy in knee pants and the street, with its endless stream of hucksters, was an exciting place. But then the one-eyed, lumpy-faced old Potato Man arrived, scaring the girls and prompting taunts from the boys. Three times the Potato Man caught the narrator making mischief, and three times the boy wound up with extra chores at home. Finally, "I figured three times bad luck was enough for me," the narrator relates, and on the first day of winter the boy finds a way to make peace with the Potato Man. McDonald ( Is This a House for Hermit Crab? ) and Lewin ( Tiger Trek ) have created a lovely, evocative period piece. The artist's horse-drawn wagons, rugged faces and turn-of-the-century kitchen are perfectly matched by the gentle homespun writing style. Like the narrator's grandchildren, who beg him to "tell us another one about when you were a boy," readers will eagerly await more from this team. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- Children will seldom turn down a good story of the "olden days" from a grandfather, and this one gives a vivid glimpse into the early part of our century. Scissor grinders, organ grinders, and peddlers' wagons creaked through the streets and alleys in those days with things or services to sell. Mr. Angelo, with a face as lumpy as his potatoes, is just such a huckster and it seems natural that he should be the butt of the neighborhood boys' pranks. But he is the ultimate winner of these "battles" through his use of gentleness and understanding. The exceptional, realistic watercolor artwork fairly leaps from the pages with its portrayal of emotions and action. It is so evocative that readers and audiences are swept into and held to the action of the intriguing story. The manageable text contains so much descriptive phrasing that action is brought immediately to the mind's eye. With a fine balance between text and illustration, this is picture book reading at its best, revealing a genuine cohesion of word and picture. And, as all "Grampa" tales should, it gives vitality to a long-ago era, as well as subliminally teaching something of compassion, understanding, and remorse. Whether read to a group or on an individual basis, this will be a popular choice for a wide spectrum of ages. --Mary Lou Budd, Milford South Elementary School, OH
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 1 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic (March 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531059146
• ISBN-13: 978-0531059142
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 9.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,103,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

10 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME

10. The first book I ever wrote was about a hermit crab, inspired by a pet I once owned.

9. My favorite color is purple.

8. I love to read mysteries. When I was Judy's age, I read all 56 classic Nancy Drew books . . . in order! Jeepers!

7. I used to collect scabs so I could examine them under the microscope that I got for my 8th birthday.

6. My four sisters and I often made up our own language, which included the words "Hoidi Boidi", "oogey", "retzel crummypuss" and "poony-poony".

5. My favorite TV show is JEOPARDY!

4. To research my Sisters Club book, THE RULE OF THREE, I toured San Francisco in search of the ultimate cupcake. The winner: Sleepless in San Francisco. Think chocolate + coffee.

3. When I was a kid, I fell down a hill from chasing the ice-cream truck and had to get stitches.

2. When I was a librarian, I used to tell stories in sign language. That's how I got the expression "same-same" for Judy.

1. I share a birthday (February 28) with a famous princess, race car driver and gangster, a Rolling Stone, a French tightrope walker, and a winning racehorse named Smarty Jones.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A subtle lesson with outstanding illustrations, August 25, 2002

By 

Catherine S. Vodrey (East Liverpool, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Potato Man (Orchard Paperbacks) (Paperback)

Megan McDonald's "The Potato Man" is the tale of what happens when bullies get their comeuppance. It begins with a grandfather telling his granddaughter and grandson a story from his childhood. After just the first page, we are quickly whisked back to somewhere around the beginning decade of the 20th century. The "potato man" in question is a man who drives a vegetable-and-fruit cart, and who is catcalled and jeered at by the neighborhood boys because he is missing an eye and thus has a face that looks somewhat like a potato. It turns out that the grandfather telling the story is one of the boys who is rude to the potato man. When push comes to shove, however, and the boy realizes that he should treat the potato man as kindly as he himself would want to be treated, the potato man forgives him without a second thought. It's a powerful lesson for children.

Ted Lewin's illustrations are up to his usual sky-high standards. You can practically hear horse's hooves clop-clopping through the city neighborhood as they land on the cobblestone roads. You can almost smell the warm produce as it sits in the sun, and hear the hurdy-gurdy man as he cranks his instrument up to play "Pop Goes the Weasel." Lewin is a master, and he is in fine form here.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good message!, March 9, 2011

By 

Jenni Robinson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Potato Man (Paperback)

I remember loving this book when it was first read to me 20 or so years ago. I have a progressive neurological disorder called Neurofibromatosis, and it can cause many terrible things, but mostly tumors and disfigurements. So when I was read this book, it always made me think of people who are different; how different I might have become as I grew...So for me, it made me want to be empathetic towards people who looked different.

Kids today need a little more help to learn empathy, and they need to learn to appreciate the elderly. The book has such classic illustrations you rarely see in books now. It's simple and wholesome. This is one of the books I remember the most from my childhood. I may only be 25, so it doesn't say much, but it meant so much to me.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars OK but strains a bit, March 7, 2008

By 

Leslie Goddard (Darien, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Potato Man (Paperback)

I read this story aloud to a group of early elementary kids and it held their attention, I guess. The pictures are nicely evocative and the story is fine. But why does it end with that straining bit about how much the kids adore the story? And what in the world does "abba-no-potato-man" mean anyway? They really wanted to know and I couldn't figure it out. Is it something about "apples-(something)-potato"? Or some nonsense phrase? They were straining to figure it out and I felt like an idiot for not knowing.