Spuds - Hardcover

Karen Hesse is the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of many books for children. Her titles include WITNESS, THE CATS IN KRASINSKI SQUARE, and the Newbery Medal winner OUT OF THE DUST, among many others. She lives in Vermont with her husband and two teenaged daughters.

Grade 1–4—As this heartwarming picture book opens, Ma's headed out to work the night shift and narrator Jack notes, "lately it seems like she's got nothin' left over, not even for us kids." His older sister, Maybelle, has watched the harvest in their neighbor Mr. Kenney's fields, and, that night, she leads Jack and their younger brother, Eddie, to glean the potatoes left behind. The siblings bundle up in layers of clothing, tuck Eddie into their red wagon, and head out into the cold autumn night. Spurred on by thoughts of a tater feast, they toil in the moonlight and trudge home only to find that they've harvested mostly stones. An angry Ma forces them to confess to Mr. Kenney the next day, but he laughs aside their apology, noting that they've done him a favor by removing the stones from his fields. The children go home and tell Ma, she cooks a fry-up with a sweet smile, and Jack realizes that her love is big enough to "turn even three little spuds like us into something mighty fine." This beautifully crafted picture book features panoramic landscapes and intimate pictures. Watson's pencil, ink, watercolor, and gouache illustrations, warmly rendered in earth tones, capture the small figures trudging along under a huge full moon, and detail the care the older children lavish on their younger brother. This sweetly understated affirmation of hard work and honesty, neighborliness and family love, will resonate with a wide audience.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
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