Pet potato
Author: Lacey, Josh
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (2022)
Classification: Easy
Physical Description: [25] p., col. ill., 28 cm
BTSB No: 536512 ISBN: 9781250834157
Ages: 4-7 Grades: K-2
Potatoes -- Fiction
Pets -- Fiction
Albert is desperate for a pet, so he's really excited when Dad finally brings one home. There's just one problem: it's a potato. Potatoes can't do anything a pet should. They can't learn tricks, or go for walks, or snuggle up with Albert. To Albert's surprise, his potato begins to grow on him, and soon he can't imagine having any other pet. But what can he do when the potato begins to rot?
Illustrator: Abe, Momoko
Booklist (06/01/22)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/06/22)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 06/01/2022 Albert longs for a pet, but his parents refuse his requests. One day, his father gives him a present, "a pet potato." It's a dad joke that leaves Albert feeling deflated, but later, he notices that the potato looks lonely and sad. Laying out his train set, Albert gives it a ride. At the park, they enjoy the playground together. At the library, he discovers his potato's fondness for pirate books. The boy and his pet become inseparable, but eventually, the "smelly, moldy" potato must go. Albert and his father bury it in the yard. At the site, a plant sprouts, flourishes, and eventually yields more pet potatoes, which Albert shares with neighbors and friends. Lacey is an English writer whose middle-grade fiction books include the Dragonsitter series; in this, his first picture book, he quietly, convincingly portrays the transformation of a root vegetable into a sentient being, surely among the most magical powers of a child's imagination. Abe's vivid illustrations convey Albert's (and his potato's) emotions with subtlety and perception. A lovable choice for reading aloud. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.