The Gigantic Sweet Potato

by Dianne De Las Casas, Marita Gentry (Illustrator)

Overview

This children's picture book is a cumulative story adapted from the Russian folktale The Giant Turnip. In this version, Ma Farmer has a hankering for some sweet potato pie. But the sweet potato she has planted is too big to pull up, even with the help of just about every animal on the farm, from Pa Farmer, to Bessie Cow, to Ralphie the Dog, to Kittie Cat. Can Lily Mouse be the one to solve the problem? A page of fun facts and a sweet potato pie recipe are included.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781589807556
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	09/02/2010
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	491,838
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Dianne de Las Casas is an award-winning author, storyteller, recording artist, and founder of the celebrated November Is Picture Book Month initiative. She hunts and pecks a good story everywhere she goes. Her work has earned rave reviews from School Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus. She performs worldwide at schools, conferences, and special events and is the author of many picture books with Pelican, including Mama's Bayou, The House That Witchy Built, and Blue Frog: The Legend of Chocolate. She lives with her family in Harvey, Louisiana.


Marita Gentry is a professional artist whose artwork is featured in galleries throughout Louisiana. A recipient of numerous awards and commissions and an accomplished teacher, she is involved in several artist-in-residence programs each year. Gentry's other titles with Pelican include Beware, Beware of the Big Bad Bear!, Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach, The Cajun Cornbread Boy, The Gigantic Sweet Potato, There's a Dragon in the Library, and Dinosaur Mardi Gras.

Editorial Reviews

As soon as she feels a hankering for sweet-potato pie, Ma Farmer knows what to add to her excellent vegetable garden. Colorful watercolors accompany the rhythmic text and add a touch of foreshadowing; the indomitable mouse that eventually solves the problem close at hand appears early to watch the goings-on. Based on the Russian folktale "The Giant Turnip," this lighthearted story stars Ma rather than Pa as the gardener and traces the growth of the sweet potato from farmer's market to kitchen jar, then through planting, watering and growth. When it's time to harvest, the fun begins, as Ma Farmer enlists Pa and a variety of farmyard animals to help when the potato remains resolutely rooted underground. Children will happily join in with the repetitive, cumulative text and enjoy the satisfying end, which naturally features sweet-potato pie (and a recipe for it). A nice tie-in to school- or home-based gardening projects, this tasty selection is a solid interpretation of the classic tale, with appealing pictures and a strong female character. (Picture book/folktale. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews