Dianne de Las Casas is an author and recording artist. She has been given accolades by the School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly for her body of work. She travels the United States doing arts-in-education programs. She is the author of art instruction books and helps to develop artistic tools for children. Her latest book for kids is an adaptation of the Russian folktale, the Giant Turnip, and is called The Gigantic Sweet Potato.
Plot of The Gigantic Sweet Potato
Ma Farmer had carrots, lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables growing in her garden. One day, she decided she was very hungry for sweet potato pie. She didn't have any growing and liked to cook food from her garden. Ma went to the market and bought a sweet potato to plant.
Ma took excellent care of the sweet potato. She watered it daily and tended it carefully. Finally it was ready to harvest. Ma took her shovel and started digging. The sweet potato wouldn't budge. She tried pulling, but the sweet potato still wouldn't budge.
Ma called Pa Farmer to come and help. Ma grabbed the sweet potato and Pa grabbed Ma. They pulled and pulled, but the sweet potato still wouldn't budge.
Bessie Cow, Ralphie Dog, and Kitty Cat all came along and tried to help in turn. Each new helper grabbed the person in front of them and pulled. But the sweet potato wouldn't budge.
Finally with the assistance of Lily Mouse, the group pulled the sweet potato from the ground and discovered it was gigantic. Ma made sweet potato pie with that sweet potato for them all to enjoy.
Illustrations of The Gigantic Sweet Potato
Marita Gentry is the illustrator of The Gigantic Sweet Potato. She is a self taught artist who has her own gallery and also teaches people of all ages. She gives presentations and workshops throughout the United States and is an artist-in-resident at several Louisiana schools.
Gentry's illustrations in The Gigantic Sweet Potato are created with watercolor. The illustrations feature vivid colors and creative use of shading and color. The characters depicted in the illustrations are lifelike and cute. Each new character is shown peeking in on the action on the page prior to their introduction. Gentry does a great job of showing the emotion on the characters faces. The illustrations add to the story, and prereaders could retell the story using the pictures.
Text of The Gigantic Sweet Potato
The text is very child friendly. Most of the words are words that children are familiar with. The few unknown words can be easily explained with the text and the pictures. The phrase "Heave ho! Heave ho! We'll pull this sweet potato, just a little more to go" is repeated several times giving children the opportunity to help with the story by reciting this repeated phrase each time.
Extras in The Gigantic Sweet Potato
After seeing the characters eating the sweet potato pie with whipped cream at the end, most readers get hungry and want to try sweet potato pie. The author has included Ma Farmer's Sweet Potato Pie recipe for readers to use. This is a kid friendly recipe. Kids could help with parts of the preparation and serving of the sweet potato pie.
Another fun feature the author has included are sweet potato fun facts. The author teaches things like where most sweet potatoes come from in the United States. She explains Ma Farmer's method of starting a sweet potato which is shown in the book and tells how good for people sweet potatoes really are. A list of everything made from sweet potatoes is included as well.
This is a fun book. Children and adults will love the beautiful pictures and fun text. It provides a jumping off spot to growing your own sweet potatoes or doing further research on sweet potatoes.
The Gigantic Sweet Potato by Dianne de Las Casas, illustrated by Marita Gentry
Pelican Publishing Company, 2010
ISBN: 9781589807556
Kelley Huston - A reader of all kinds of books, Kelley is an teacher who loves crafts and scrapbooking. She is a Disney fan who loves all things Disney.
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