Two Old Potatoes and Me
One day at her dad’s house, a young girl finds two old potatoes in the cupboard. “Gross.” But before she can throw them away, her dad suggests they try to grow new potatoes from the old ones, which have sprouted eyes. Told from May to September, the potato-growing season, the story includes all the basic steps for growing potatoes while subtly dealing with the parents’ recent divorce.
Just like the new potatoes that emerged from ugly old potatoes, this dad and daughter move on and make a new life together in the face of unavoidable and unpleasant change. Carolyn Fisher’s artwork will be instantly recognizable from her recent picture book debut, A Twisted Tale, and her trademark high-energy art and design infuse joy and humor into this heartwarming story.
School Library Journal
While at her father’s house, a girl discovers two old potatoes that have begun to sprout in the rear of the cupboard. She throws them away, but he suggests that instead they try to grow new ones from them. The story details how they prepare the soil, weed, water, and protect the plants from potato beetles. In September, their patience and hard work are rewarded with a brimming bucket of new potatoes. Several elements raise this story above the ordinary. First, the idea that something originally destined for the garbage can be turned into so much bounty is an important one for children growing up in our throwaway society. Second, it is refreshing to have a situation in which a divorced father and his daughter have such a comfortable relationship and spend their time together so productively. Third, Fisher’s richly detailed, highly stylized color illustrations integrate perfectly with the varying fonts of the text and are a standout. There’s lots of food for thought here, along with a recipe for mashed potatoes.