Rarely does potato poetry reach such laudable heights as in this piece of inspired lunacy from the tomfool team Toby Speed and Barry Root of Two Cool Cows. Surely these noble tubers have long deserved some sort of epic treatment (one wonders, for instance, why there's never been a "Charge of the Spud Brigade" or "The Tater Not Taken"), but Brave Potatoes at last gives the forsaken roots their well-deserved due, in a wonderfully weird and lyrical tribute.

Squeezed in between the prize perennials and the summer squash at a county fair 4-H hall, the potatoes begin their night of adventure, rubbing their eyes as they stir to life. "Everyone's asleep in the Bud and Bean Arena. / So all the prize potatoes with their eyes wide open topple to the hard-knocky floor." This lumpy little crew has just one thing in mind: heading down the midway to take a ride on the Zip. "Over at the Fair, / potatoes in the air! / See them flip, flip, flip on the wild and woolly Zip!" But across town at the Chowder Lounge, Chef Hackemup has other plans for these high-flying potatoes--hoping to make curly fries, chips, and gumbo à la Zip, "Off goes / Hackemup / with a bag / to pack 'em up." Can these spuds possibly survive his shredder and his grater and his So-Long-See-You-Later? Only if they're brave enough, of course, and you can bet that all the other vegetables held captive in Hackemup's mad-scientist-style kitchen are counting on them.

Speed's well-crafted verse ("If real words won't do, I make some up," he admits) is matched only by Root's luminescent and hilariously detailed illustrations. (Ages 7 to 10) --Paul Hughes


From Publishers Weekly
The team behind Two Cool Cows returns in this remarkable veggie opera. After dark at the county fair's produce display, strange things are afoot: "All the prize potatoes with their eyes wide open/ topple to the hard-knocky floor/ and one potato, two potato, three potato, four/ head for the creak-cracky door." As complacent pumpkins and watermelons snooze, the spuds gallop into the moonlight and climb aboard a carnival ride, the Zip (whose name conveniently rhymes with "chip"). Meanwhile, in a nearby industrial kitchen full of steaming, gleaming copper kettles, Hackemup the chef whacks unfortunate onions, peppers and tomatoesA"But he hasn't got potatoes./ No, he hasn't got potatoes." Speed sets up a wicked confrontation between Hackemup and the innocent tubers, and the aptly named Root paints the midnight showdown with gusto. The collaborators present the unusual material without irony, and Root carefully portrays the russet red and Yukon gold heroes in all sizes, with unique personalities blazing in their beady little eyes. The intrepid potatoes stage a real grassroots campaign against The Man, and they ultimately march down the street chanting, "We will never be potpie./ We will never be potluck./ We will never be frittata./ We will always be potatoes." This poetically phrased and oddly poignant tale might make a good companion to Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers's How Are You Peeling?, another omen of a budding potato-liberation movement. Ages 4-8. (May) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2-It's nighttime at the County Fair and the prize vegetables are all fast asleep-all except the potatoes. Having so many eyes, they are wide awake. But evil is afoot and when they sneak out to enjoy a carnival ride, they are spotted by the chef at the Chowder Lounge across town. The murderous Hackemup has everything he needs for his soup except potatoes, and he corrals the spuds into his steamy, dark kitchen. Is this their last stop? Proudly chanting, "Potatoes to the finish./Potatoes to the end./We will always be courageous./We will always be potatoes!" the tubers engage the cook in a colorful struggle and he ends up in the soup. Root's cartoons in shaded hues of red, orange, purple, and green vivify the veggies. An exciting story full of fun, complemented by delightful illustrations.Ruth Semrau, Upshur County Public Library, Gilmer, TX Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Ages 4-8. Looking for some fun, the prize potatoes at the County Fair sneak out one night to enjoy the rides. But Chef Hackemup has more sinister plans for them. Along with the onions, radishes, and carrots, it seems the potatoes are headed for dinner-plate fate. However, never underestimate the power of "brave potatoes forty-fold!" This witty, imaginative romp is a delight for both eyes and ears. Abundant puns, wordplay, and rhyme will make this a festive read-aloud choice ("See the mamas and the papas and the wee potato buds, see the mesmerizing, chef-defying puds!"). Root's richly hued, detailed watercolor-and-gouache illustrations are the perfect accompaniment, humorously elevating the interaction between expressive vegetable and human characters to near-epic proportions, in kitchen and at the fairgrounds. This fun, fast-paced tale may have a downside: after they cheer for the heroic spuds and their veggie friends, getting kids to eat their vegetables may be tougher than usual. Shelle Rosenfeld
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


From Kirkus Reviews
Speed and Root (Two Cool Cows, 1995) pit a platoon of feisty prize spuds against grimacing chef Hackemup in this gleeful culinary contretemps. Once the sun sets over the county fair's Bud and Bean Arena, the potatoes open their eyes and rumble out to sample the wild carnival ride called The Zip--until Hackemup, chef at the Chowder Lounge, snatches them up, singing delightedly of Idaho and Juliet . . . Romeo and Julienne. Speed breaks in and out of rhyme unpredictably; Root portrays the Lounge's kitchen as a steamy vegetable hell, all huge boiling cauldrons and crisscrossed conveyor belts carrying passive, anxious-looking peppers, cabbages, eggplants, and onions to their soupy doom. Potatoes are made of sterner stuff, though, and, ganging up to push Hackemup into one of his own pots, they lead a vegetable charge out the door and down the street, carnival-ward. Any way you slice it, this tuberous triumph will have readers rolling in the aisles. (Picture book. 7-9) -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
See the mamas and the papas and the wee potato buds...
"It's refreshing to see something genuinely new sprouting under the sun." -The Bulletin, starred review

"A peck of bug-eyed prize potatoes tiptoe out of the 'Bud and Bean Arena' at the County fair...and roll through the midway on a daring rescue mission...Speed and Root bring plenty of panache to their task, stewing up a tasty goulash of a book...."
-Publishers Weekly

"Any way you slice it, this tuberous triumph will have readers rolling in the aisles."
-Kirkus Reviews


Card catalog description
Potatoes set off across the darkened fair grounds to enjoy the rides, but Hackemup the chef has other plans for them.

ANNOTATION

Potatoes set off across the darkened fair grounds to enjoy the rides, but Hackemup the chef has other plans for them.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

See the mamas and the papas and the wee potato buds...
"It's refreshing to see something genuinely new sprouting under the sun." -The Bulletin, starred review

"A peck of bug-eyed prize potatoes tiptoe out of the 'Bud and Bean Arena' at the County fair...and roll through the midway on a daring rescue mission...Speed and Root bring plenty of panache to their task, stewing up a tasty goulash of a book...."
-Publishers Weekly

"Any way you slice it, this tuberous triumph will have readers rolling in the aisles."
-Kirkus Reviews

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The team behind Two Cool Cows returns in this remarkable veggie opera. After dark at the county fair's produce display, strange things are afoot: "All the prize potatoes with their eyes wide open/ topple to the hard-knocky floor/ and one potato, two potato, three potato, four/ head for the creak-cracky door." As complacent pumpkins and watermelons snooze, the spuds gallop into the moonlight and climb aboard a carnival ride, the Zip (whose name conveniently rhymes with "chip"). Meanwhile, in a nearby industrial kitchen full of steaming, gleaming copper kettles, Hackemup the chef whacks unfortunate onions, peppers and tomatoes--"But he hasn't got potatoes./ No, he hasn't got potatoes." Speed sets up a wicked confrontation between Hackemup and the innocent tubers, and the aptly named Root paints the midnight showdown with gusto. The collaborators present the unusual material without irony, and Root carefully portrays the russet red and Yukon gold heroes in all sizes, with unique personalities blazing in their beady little eyes. The intrepid potatoes stage a real grassroots campaign against The Man, and they ultimately march down the street chanting, "We will never be potpie./ We will never be potluck./ We will never be frittata./ We will always be potatoes." This poetically phrased and oddly poignant tale might make a good companion to Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers's How Are You Peeling?, another omen of a budding potato-liberation movement. Ages 4-8. (May) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Children's Literature - Children's Literture

At night, the potatoes at the county fair pavilion open their eyes and head out to the Ferris wheel for a ride. They sneak past all of the other snoring vegetables. Meanwhile, across town Chef Hackemup is chopping, dicing and slicing a wide range of vegetables--but has no potatoes. He spies the potatoes on the Ferris wheel and decides to go and lure them back to his kitchen. The potatoes end up in Chef Hackemup's kitchen, but that doesn't mean their goose is cooked. The lyrical text and the humorous illustrations make this a classic picture book. 2000, G. P. Putnam, Ages 2 to 8, $15.99. Reviewer: Kristin Harris

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2-It's nighttime at the County Fair and the prize vegetables are all fast asleep-all except the potatoes. Having so many eyes, they are wide awake. But evil is afoot and when they sneak out to enjoy a carnival ride, they are spotted by the chef at the Chowder Lounge across town. The murderous Hackemup has everything he needs for his soup except potatoes, and he corrals the spuds into his steamy, dark kitchen. Is this their last stop? Proudly chanting, "Potatoes to the finish./Potatoes to the end./We will always be courageous./We will always be potatoes!" the tubers engage the cook in a colorful struggle and he ends up in the soup. Root's cartoons in shaded hues of red, orange, purple, and green vivify the veggies. An exciting story full of fun, complemented by delightful illustrations.-Ruth Semrau, Upshur County Public Library, Gilmer, TX Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Kirkus Reviews

Speed and Root (Two Cool Cows, 1995) pit a platoon of feisty prize spuds against grimacing chef Hackemup in this gleeful culinary contretemps. Once the sun sets over the county fair's Bud and Bean Arena, the potatoes open their eyes and rumble out to sample the wild carnival ride called "The Zip"—until Hackemup, chef at the Chowder Lounge, snatches them up, singing delightedly of "Idaho and Juliet . . . Romeo and Julienne." Speed breaks in and out of rhyme unpredictably; Root portrays the Lounge's kitchen as a steamy vegetable hell, all huge boiling cauldrons and crisscrossed conveyor belts carrying passive, anxious-looking peppers, cabbages, eggplants, and onions to their soupy doom. Potatoes are made of sterner stuff, though, and, ganging up to push Hackemup into one of his own pots, they lead a vegetable charge out the door and down the street, carnival-ward. Any way you slice it, this tuberous triumph will have readers rolling in the aisles. (Picture book. 7-9)