From School Library Journal
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's Squash Pie (Dell, 1980, o.p.), Ruth Krauss's The Carrot Seed (HarperCollins, 1945), or Vladimir Vagin's The Enormous Carrot (Scholastic, 1998) for a tasty storytime and try the carrot soup recipe at the back, too. Be Astengo, Alachua County Library, Gainesville, FL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PreS-Gr. 2. Here's a springtime book that's great for kids who love planning and doing projects. Rabbit, a very organized animal, loves carrot soup. He spends the long winter paging through carrot catalogs (a full-page spread shows the different colors, shapes, and sizes of eight kinds of carrots). Then he plows and plants, waters and weeds, and waits. Finally it's time to harvest, but when he goes to pick the carrots, they are all gone. He frantically questions all the animals he knows, but not one admits to liking carrots. "Discouraged and disappointed, Rabbit went home," where he discovered a wonderful surprise. The clues are in Segal's stylized pencil and watercolor pictures, and observant children won't have any trouble determining where the carrots went. The delicate springtime greens and browns used in the background contrast nicely with Rabbit's comically expressive face. A recipe for carrot soup provides an appetizing finish. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
About the Author
John Segal has illustrated many books for children, including Kenneth Grahame's The Reluctant Dragon, retold by Robert D. San Souci, and The Musicians of Bremen by Jane Yolen. His drawings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Gourmet, and Travel & Leisure, and he is an award-winning designer of greeting cards for the Museum of Modern Art. This is the first book he has both written and illustrated.
John Segal lives in New York City and has two children, Emily and Josh.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Carrot Soup
By John SegalMargaret K. McElderry
Copyright © 2006 John Segal
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-689-87702-5
Chapter One
"Cat, I was hoping to have carrot soup tonight, but my carrots have disappeared!" said Rabbit. "Have you seen them?"
"Carrots?" asked Cat.
"Why would I be interested in your carrots? Perhaps Duck knows something about carrots."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Carrot Soupby John Segal Copyright © 2006 by John Segal. Excerpted by permission.
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