Spuds (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1–4—As this heartwarming picture book opens, Ma's headed out to work the night shift and narrator Jack notes, "lately it seems like she's got nothin' left over, not even for us kids." His older sister, Maybelle, has watched the harvest in their neighbor Mr. Kenney's fields, and, that night, she leads Jack and their younger brother, Eddie, to glean the potatoes left behind. The siblings bundle up in layers of clothing, tuck Eddie into their red wagon, and head out into the cold autumn night. Spurred on by thoughts of a tater feast, they toil in the moonlight and trudge home only to find that they've harvested mostly stones. An angry Ma forces them to confess to Mr. Kenney the next day, but he laughs aside their apology, noting that they've done him a favor by removing the stones from his fields. The children go home and tell Ma, she cooks a fry-up with a sweet smile, and Jack realizes that her love is big enough to "turn even three little spuds like us into something mighty fine." This beautifully crafted picture book features panoramic landscapes and intimate pictures. Watson's pencil, ink, watercolor, and gouache illustrations, warmly rendered in earth tones, capture the small figures trudging along under a huge full moon, and detail the care the older children lavish on their younger brother. This sweetly understated affirmation of hard work and honesty, neighborliness and family love, will resonate with a wide audience.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* The creators of The Cats in Krasinski Square (2004), about children who resisted Nazi occupation in Warsaw, move to a very different setting in this title that also features young people on a secret mission. Here, though, the children are a trio of siblings who yearn for a hearty meal and relief for their overworked mother. Watson’s quiet, earth-toned images, rendered in pencil, ink, watercolor, and gouache, set the story in the past (Ma uses a wood-burning cookstove) and in a poor, rural setting, where the kids hatch a plan to steal potatoes from a farmer’s field after his harvest. In folksy free verse, Jack, the middle child, describes the nighttime adventure, which ends with the children’s discovery that they’ve filled their sacks mostly with stones, not spuds. Even more heartbreaking is Ma’s anger, and she sends the children and their pilfered loot back to the farmer, who lets them keep what potatoes they found. The subtlety in Hesse’s spare, regional poetry is beautifully extended in Watson’s uncluttered pictures, which convey the thrilling, frosty, moonlit adventure and then the glowing warmth of the family’s shared meal at the end. Children will easily recognize all of the feelings here: the kids’ desire to help, the anxiety about right and wrong, and then the joy when all is forgiven. Preschool-Grade 2. --Gillian Engberg

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press; Library Binding edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439879930
• ISBN-13: 978-0439879934
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,179 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Wulbert's Class Review, January 9, 2009

A Kid's Review

This story was about some kids with a poor mom who was working very hard. One night they went out to steal some potatoes from Mr. Kenney's farm because they were going to rot. When they heard a car coming they ducked out of sight and tried not to get caught. Read this book to find out what happens to Jack, Eddie, and Maybelle.

This book might appeal to people living in rural communities because it has a farmer as one of the main characters. People who enjoy stories that have a touch of sadness in them might enjoy reading this book and it's happy ending. This is a good book for kids to learn the lesson that it is not a good idea to steal from others.

I really enjoyed the part of the story where Jack dumped out the three sacks and found and interesting surprise. I liked the way this story made my emotions mix together, at times I felt sad, angry, and happy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Spuds, January 7, 2009

By	just Charlie - See all my reviews

I think it is important to read children all kinds of books even sad or books that make us ask questions and this does that. This is a beautifully illustrated book that gives a not so happy look at life but with a happy ending.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Heartwarming Tale, November 14, 2008

By	Spudman (Pasadena, MD United States) - See all my reviews

Three children set out to help their hard working mom by stealing potatoes under cover of darkness from a neighbor's potato field.
Though the plan doesn't unfold as intended, the children learn a lesson from the reactions of the mother and the sympathetic neighbor.

The pages of this book are large, making it suitable for read aloud sharing. The story lends itself to discussion of right and wrong, feelings, and motives.

The artistry is top notch, Wendy Watson captures and creates mood with her subtle, somber shades and character faces rich in expression.
I'm not sure that four-year-olds will appreciate, like or even understand the author's use of dialect. All will be moved by Jack's heartbreak as he kneels "in the middle of the linoleum floor."