 Illustrated by Barry Root  Off go the brave potatoes to take a midnight ride on the Zip! Reviews"Speed and Root bring plenty of panache to their task, stewing up a tasty goulash of a book . . . Speed's inventive, rhythmic verse is particularly well spiced with wit." -The Horn Book "The team behind TWO COOL COWS returns in this remarkable veggie opera. This poetically phrased and oddly poignant tale might . . . [be] another omen of a budding potato-liberation movement." -Publishers Weekly "An exciting story full of fun, complemented by delightful illustrations." -School Library Journal |
Brave PotatoesRecognition* The New York Times Extended Children's Best Seller List * Publishers Weekly Children's Bestseller List * Blue Ribbon Winner for 2000 from the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books * Selected by Publishers Weekly as the book featuring the "Most Curious Anthropomorphism" in a column called "A Lighthearted Awards Ceremony" How The Book Got Started"Late at night at the County Fair, when the crowd's gone home and the cows have gone to bed, all the prize potatoes rub their eyes. They look to the left. They look to the right. Everyone's asleep in the Bud and Bean Arena." While my children were growing up we spent summers in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, in a hilltop cottage by the side of a pond. We went to the Wayne County Fair every August to ride on the rides, see the animals, watch fireworks and fill up on ice cream and corn on the cob. In the 4-H tent were rows and rows of prize fruits and vegetables -- squash, pumpkins, corn and potatoes. They all looked so proud sitting there in their tins with their bright blue and red ribbons. They also looked bored. I wondered what they liked to do at night for fun, after all the people had gone home. That was the start of BRAVE POTATOES! The first line came to me in a flash, and the rest followed . . . slo-o-o-owly. It took about two years to write this book. You can read it in about 20 minutes. |
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