Are your carrots up in the garden yet?
Just watching the spindly stalks grow taller and thicker each day reminds me of two new books about carrots. Actually, the stories are both adapted from an old Russian folk tale, "The Turnip," but each artist chose to replace the turnip with a carrot.
"The Turnip" may have first appeared in a minstrel's repertoire as early as the 12th century. In the mid-1800s, Russian folklorist Alexander Afanasyev published it in one of his anthologies. The American version was printed in 1938 in "Once and Again," by Alice Dalghesh and Katherine Milhous, and in 1945 in "Russian Fairy Tales," edited by Norbert Guterman.
Folklorists call this cumulative story a "chain formula," because the plot is dependent on a series of linked characters and events. The main event is the growth of a giant vegetable, too big to be plucked from the ground. The characters elicit help from others to assist in pulling out the enormous carrot, but it is the final protagonist — the smallest of the lot — who actually causes the success of the task.
THE GIANT CARROT, by Jan Peck with illustrations by Barry Root (Dial).
Peck's story is laced with colloquialisms and manners of the Southwest. It is Papa Joe who prepares the soil (he wants a big glass of carrot juice) and Mama Bess who plants the carrot seed (she is looking forward to a big bowl of carrot stew). Brother Abel waters the soil from the well (his mouth is set for carrot relish).
But it is the dancing and singing of Sweet Little Isabelle (who wants sweet carrot pudding) that make the seed grow and grow and GROW. It's also her singing and dancing that cause the gigantic carrot to pop out of the ground.
Everyone is happy because they all get their favorite foods — carrot juice, carrot stew, carrot relish and carrot pudding. Incidentally, Little Isabelle's carrot pudding recipe is included in the back of the book.
Root's watercolor and gouache illustrations are refreshing simple. The earthy tones are very appropriate for this type of folksy tale, and the layout moves the story along at a great speed, in time for a "read it again." His home in rural Pennsylvania could very well be the setting he chose for this picture book.
Peck lives in Fort Worth, Texas. When she meets her fans in schools and libraries, she carries a 6-foot-6-inch carrot constructed by a set-designer friend.
THE ENORMOUS CARROT, by Vladimir Vagin (Scholastic).
Vagin, recipient of the Soviet National Gold Award, recalls this story from his Russian childhood. His animal characters are portrayed as able and hardy farmers who collaborate to extract the enormous carrot. Using pulleys, wedges and even a tractor, the vegetable stays put until Lester, the mouse, volunteers his assistance.
Admittedly, he was "too small," but together "they tugged and they lugged, they heaved and they ho'd, they grunted and they groaned, they teamed and they towed, they stretched and they swayed, they hollered and they hauled and all at once . . ."
The repeated refrain teamed with the efforts of some dedicated animals gets the carrot out and into soups, ice cream, puddings, pies, cookies and juice.
Vagin's animation is delicious! The swirling movements, the brilliant color and teeny details make this a story to read time and time again.