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| Big A little a Today, Kelly Herold (Big A little a) reviews Carrot Soup, by John Segal. The hero of John Segal's Carrot Soup is obsessed with his garden. In particular, he's obsessed with his carrot crop. Carrot Soup begins in the spring, "Rabbit's favorite season," when Rabbit orders seeds and begins planting. He orders Early Horn, Lunar White, Short 'n' Sweet, Bolero, Thumbelina, Sugarsnax, Paris Market and Autumn King carrots. And to think I thought carrots came in "regular" and "mini" sizes! Children will love Segal's illustrations of the different carrots in all their glory. Rabbit plants his carrots, takes care of them in the proper way by weeding and plowing and watering. Oh, and waiting. And waiting and waiting and waiting. When it's time to harvest and make carrot soup, the carrots have disappeared. Rabbit is highly distressed. He darts about asking all the animals in the neighborhood if they've seen his carrots. All's well that ends well, though, and Segal concludes his story with a great recipe for carrot soup. Carrot Soup is an enchanting tale about friendship and hard work--perfect for a garden-themed read aloud. Segal's illustrations are infectious fun and the soup recipe a treat. Enjoy!
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast It’s Spring, Rabbit’s favorite time of year, in which he plans his garden, plows, plants, waters, weeds, waits, harvests, and then enjoys some sweet carrot soup. However, though he goes to great effort this year to plant a wide variety of carrots (ever heard of sugarsnax carrots? Paris Market? Thumbelinas? Lunar Whites? Who knew? Not I. There are white carrots?), when he eagerly goes to pluck his savory veggies from the ground, they’re gone. Off he goes to interrogate his friends — Mole, Dog, Cat, etc. — and I won’t reveal the felicitous ending so as to not ruin your fun. Segal scores with text constructed with a rhythmic, repetitive structure (Rabbit asking each animal, “have you seen them?” and the animal responding with a clear no and encouraging poor Rabbit to ask the next animal) — oh, and a carrot recipe to boot in the back. Score again (but hold the celery please)! And he also scores with his jaunty, rather angular illustrations (but with just enough of a soft edge) and his animal characters with the pin-point eyes that still manage to exude personality. Pre-schoolers will have a blast spotting the busy animal activity in the background to which Rabbit is oblivious; Rabbit’s in for one thoughtful surprise, though. For another thumbs-up on this title from someone-in-the-know, check out Big A little a’s thoughts on the matter. | ||||||||||||
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