Fruit Bowl

by Mark Hoffmann

Overview

Who belongs in the fruit bowl? Apples, check. Blueberries, check. Tomato, che— Wait, what?! Tomato wants to join the other fruits, but does he belong? The perfect mix of botany and a bunch of bananas!

All the fruit are in the bowl. There's Apple and Orange. Strawberry and Peach. Plum and Pear. And, of course, Tomato.

Now wait just a minute! Tomatoes aren't fruit! Or are they?

Using sly science (and some wisdom from a wise old raisin), Tomato proves all the fruit wrong and shows that he belongs in the bowl just as much as the next blueberry! And he's bringing some unexpected friends too!

"A fun, brain-teasing food literacy lesson that's a cornucopia of produce and wordplay."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"An a-peel-ing addition."—School Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524719913
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	06/12/2018
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,116,901
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Mark Hoffmann is an editorial and children's book illustrator and fine artist. He is currently a professor at Montserrat College of Art in the illustration department. He lives with his family outside of Boston. Visit him at studiohoffmann.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/16/2018
After a mother enlists her child’s help in putting newly purchased vegetables and fruits away, the young speaker, whose presence appears only as a word balloon, greets the fruits as old friends: “Oh, Pear. I’m glad you’re back in season.” The kid makes sure each one gets safely into the bowl, but why is Tomato trying to crash the party? “You belong in the fridge with the other vegetables,” says the child. Savvy Tomato has the facts on his side: he started out as a seed, he explains, as did many of his comrades who are usually classified as vegetables and now demand their rightful place in the blue fruit bowl, too. In his first foray as writer and illustrator, Hoffmann (illustrator of You Can Read) offers a fun, brain-teasing food literacy lesson that’s a cornucopia of produce and wordplay. His naive-styled fruits—they look like generously proportioned cut-outs with stick arms and legs—have vivid personalities, and their gouache colors are positively juicy. Ages 3–7. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"In his first foray as writer and illustrator, Hoffmann (illustrator of You Can Read) offers a fun, brain-teasing food literacy lesson that’s a cornucopia of produce and wordplay."—Publishers Weekly, starred review


"An a-peel-ing addition."—School Library Journal 

From the Publisher

06/01/2018
PreS-Gr 1—A disgraced tomato relegated to the crisper tries to convince readers that tomatoes are fruits. After his attempt to climb into the fruit bowl is foiled, a disappointed tomato uses logic, an X-ray, and, eventually, the wisdom of Old Man Produce to convince the audience that tomatoes really are fruits. When he regains his rightful place in the fruit bowl, tomato introduces some other vegetables that are actually fruits in disguise. An imaginative and entertaining reimagination of the relatively dull task of putting away the groceries and a thinly veiled "Tomatoes are Fruits" PSA. The anthropomorphized fruit are rendered in thick gouache paint on the bright kitchen background with simple but expressive faces and wiggly arms. The story is best enjoyed one-on-one as the text is conveyed entirely through word bubbles and readers will enjoy finding the puns, subtle and otherwise, that are sprinkled liberally throughout. VERDICT An a-peel-ing addition with lots of curricular connections. For larger collections.—Laken Hottle, Providence Community Library

School Library Journal

2018-03-27
Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Ripe with puns, this tale turns on the question.In word bubbles, an off-page child converses with a bevy of colorful, anthropomorphized foodstuffs while putting the produce away: "How's everyone doing?" Lemon's "Full of zest." Strawberry says, "I was jammed in that bag." When the tomato tries to climb into the fruit bowl, everyone questions his right. Tomato then lectures those assembled: Fruits develop from flowers, while veggies might be leaves, stems (asparagus), petals (artichokes, anyone?), or roots. He produces a wacky X-ray showing not only his seeds, but the bones of his skinny arms and legs. Each fruit and vegetable in Hoffmann's digitally composed, hand-lettered gouache pictures sports simple facial features and sticklike limbs. The male tomato and "Old Man Produce"—a wizened prune with bushy gray brows—are explicitly gendered, while a lemon and pepper have full lips and eyelashes, implying they are female. The Old Man delivers a rambling, Zen-like speech that muddies the already-sketchy science. With their new knowledge, a pepper, bean, eggplant, cuke, avocado, snow pea, and yellow squash line up to climb the fruit bowl's ladder. Hoffmann's premise is a bit shaky. Some veggies are typically unrefrigerated (think potatoes), some fruits are regularly kept chilled, and many of those newly ensconced denizens of this fruit bowl (from peppers to squash) keep better in the fridge.Inessential. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews