Creepy Carrots!

by Aaron Reynolds, Peter Brown (Illustrator)

Overview

In this Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, The Twilight Zone comes to the carrot patch as a rabbit fears his favorite treats are out to get him.

Jasper Rabbit loves carrots—especially Crackenhopper Field carrots.
He eats them on the way to school.
He eats them going to Little League.
He eats them walking home.
Until the day the carrots start following him...or are they?
Celebrated artist Peter Brown’s stylish illustrations pair perfectly with Aaron Reynold’s text in this hilarious picture book that shows it’s all fun and games…until you get too greedy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442402973
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	08/21/2012
Series:	Creepy Tales! Series
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	4,078
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	AD410L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Aaron Reynolds is the New York Times bestselling author of many highly acclaimed books for kids, including Here Comes Destructosaurus!, Carnivores, and the Caldecott Honor–winning book Creepy Carrots!. He regularly makes time to visit schools where his hilarious hands-on presentations keep kids spellbound. Aaron lives in Chicago with his wife, two kids, four cats, and anywhere between zero and ten goldfish, depending on the day. Visit Aaron at Aaron-Reynolds.com.

Peter Brown is the author and illustrator of many bestselling children’s books, including Children Make Terrible Pets, Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, and The Curious Garden. He is also the author of the bestselling middle grade Wild Robot duology. He is the recipient of a Caldecott Honor for Creepy Carrots!, two E.B. White Read Aloud Awards, a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book Award, and a Children’s Choice Book Award for Illustrator of the Year. Peter’s website is PeterBrownStudio.com.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Brown’s panels–bordered in black, drawn in pencil, and digitally composed and colored–cleverly combine the mood of film noir with the low-tech look of early children’s television staging for an aesthetic that is atmospheric, but not overwhelming.... Panels in varying sizes and multiple perspectives keep pace with Reynolds’s tongue-in-cheek narrative.... This age-appropriate horror story takes children’s fears seriously and then offers them an escape through genuine comic relief."—School Library Journal

* "Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories."—Kirkus Reviews in a STARRED review

* "A spot-on parody of a paranoid thriller...."—Publishers Weekly in a starred review

Editorial Reviews

…crisply paced…And it has the added advantage of providing vegetable-averse youngsters with ammunition when their parents urge them to eat up!
—Kristi Elle Jemtegaard

The Washington Post

The stark and atmospheric illustrations by Brown…are simply splendid.
—Pamela Paul

The New York Times Book Review

In a spot-on parody of a paranoid thriller, a hungry bunny senses “creepy carrots” watching his every move. Jasper Rabbit doesn’t think twice about plundering the carrots of Crackenhopper Field “until they started following him.” Jasper glimpses three jack-o-lantern–jawed carrots behind him in the bathroom mirror (when he turns around it’s just a washcloth, shampoo bottle, and rubber duck—or is it?), and he yells for his parents when a carrot shadow looms on his bedroom wall. Reynolds (Snowbots) makes liberal use of ellipses for suspense, conjuring the “soft... sinister... tunktunktunk of carrots creeping.” Brown (Children Make Terrible Pets) illustrates in noirish grayscale with squash-orange highlights and dramatic lighting, framing each panel in shiny black for a claustrophobic film-still effect that cements the story’s horror movie feel. Jasper’s grin grows maniacal as he constructs a fortress and moat to contain the offending carrot patch, giving the carrots a happy ending in this Hitchcock spoof (Brown even sneaks in a sly Vertigo reference). Watch out, vegetarians—these carrots have bite! Ages 4–8. Agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary Management. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

A New York Times bestseller

The New York Times

"Brown’s panels–bordered in black, drawn in pencil, and digitally composed and colored–cleverly combine the mood of film noir with the low-tech look of early children’s television staging for an aesthetic that is atmospheric, but not overwhelming.... Panels in varying sizes and multiple perspectives keep pace with Reynolds’s tongue-in-cheek narrative.... This age-appropriate horror story takes children’s fears seriously and then offers them an escape through genuine comic relief."—School Library Journal

* "Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories."—Kirkus Reviews in a STARRED review

* "A spot-on parody of a paranoid thriller...."—Publishers Weekly in a starred review

From the Publisher

A New York Times bestseller

The New York Times

Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field. Jasper loves carrots, especially those "free for the taking." He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown's hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables' eerie orange on each page. "Jasper couldn't get enough carrots … / … until they started following him." The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper's imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book's characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach. Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews