Carrot Soup
PreSchool-Grade 2 Rabbit's favorite time of year is spring, when he can plant his garden. He plows, plants, waters, weeds, and waits for his carrots to grow, while looking forward to eating carrot soup. But at harvest time, he finds that all of his beloved plants are gone. As he asks his neighbors if they have seen his produce, each one skillfully avoids answering. In the background, readers see animals holding balloons, wearing party hats, and hauling away bucketloads of carrots. Disappointed, Rabbit returns home to discover that his friends have organized a party and cooked his favorite soup. The book ends with the word Surprise! and it is not clear if Rabbit is pleased or not. However, children will find this tale satisfying in its predictability and will enjoy being in on the secret. The illustrations are rendered in soft-hued watercolors with lots of white space and playful animal caricatures. Segal intermittently uses a storyboard format to convey the progression of the action. Read this tale along with Wilson Gage'sSquash Pie(Dell, 1980, o.p.), Ruth Krauss'sThe Carrot Seed(HarperCollins, 1945), or Vladimir Vagin'sThe Enormous Carrot(Scholastic, 1998) for a tasty storytime and try the carrot soup recipe at the back, too.Be Astengo, Alachua County Library, Gainesville, FLCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.