Product Description

An enchanting book from a prize-winning author, about the magic of growing things. When Scarlette Beane is born, the tips of her fingers glow green and her mother knows she will grow up to do something wonderful. One night Scarlette plants some seeds, while her fingers flash green sparks. The ensuing giant vegetable are so huge, the whole village harvest sthem with bulldozers and soup is made in a concrete mixer. But this just shows how small the house is, so Scarlette does do something wonderful: at dead of night she plants seeds, her fingers sparkle, and the next morning she has a marvellous mansion of vegetables for her family to move into. Jon Berkely has illustrated in rich and vivid colour. Karen Wallace has written 60 books for children. Her publishers include Walker Books, HarperCollins, Hodder and Puffin. Her book 'Think of an Eel' won the Kurt Maschler award, the Times Educational Award and, in US, the Parent's Choice Gold award and the Blue Ribbon.This is her first book for OUP. Karen also writes for children's TV, including 'Wizadora'. Her major new series is a Henson/Carlton production to be screened this year. She was born in Ontario, Canada and now lives in Kington, Herefordshire. Jon Berkeley was born in Dublin, but now lives in Barcelona with his wife and five children. This is his first picture book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4914106 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
PW called this tale of a girl born with a face "as red as a beet," and not only a green thumb, but green fingertips as well, a "sprightly story. Berkeley's characters, with their perpetually surprised expressions and eccentric hairstyles, inject the pages with a droll edginess." Ages 3-7. (Apr.)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-When Scarlette Beane is born, her face is as red as a beet, and the ends of her fingers are green. Her parents are convinced she will grow up to do something wonderful. Since there isn't much room in their small house, the family spends most of its time outdoors in the garden. On Scarlette's fifth birthday, she receives a garden of her very own, complete with a set of tools and a wooden fence. Overnight, her carrots, onions, and parsley grow to an enormous size, and her family invites the whole town over for soup. Then Scarlette sets her sights on something bigger; she grows a huge castle made of vegetables. Berkeley's cartoonlike acrylic illustrations done in earthy hues on textured paper capture the wonder of this gentle fairy tale and bring to life such details as the cucumber towers and turnip turrets of the castle. Indeed, the most fascinating aspect of the book is the detail, from the forklift used to carry the enormous onions, to the concrete mixer Mrs. Beane uses to make soup, to the green sparkles at the end of the child's fingers when the vegetables grow. Pair this vegetarian's delight with David Wiesner's June 29, 1999 (Clarion, 1992) or any version of the giant turnip for a storytime of amazing proportions.
Kathleen M. Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, Eldersburg, MD
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Born with green fingers and a face as red as a beet, Scarlette Bean is precociously adept at gardening. In fact, by the age of five, she's growing giant vegetables that go into soup for the entire village. Her next crop is even more spectacular. By planting all the seeds in one hole, she grows a vegetable palace, into which she and her family move, leaving their crowded garden hut behind. Berkeley's illustrations, in acrylics on textured paper, have a rough yet fuzzy quality that seems a good choice for rendering the giant vegetables. The vegetables themselves are good for a laugh, and they, along with the cartoonlike townspeople and bright landscapes, give the book much of its appeal. Todd Morning

Customer Reviews

Girl Grows Magic
Good folksy fairy tale where the protagonist is a girl not scared to get her magical green fingers dirty. My two year old immediately loved the story of a young baby growing into a little girl and "doing something wonderful." I like that there are lots of opportunities to identify and name vegetables in the exciting if not overly refined illustrations. Also, I really recommend this book for its sense of community -- when the village comes together to harvest and eat Scarlette's giant vegetables, it's great to notice that women drive forklifts, priests sit down to eat with tattooed bikers and neighbors come in all shapes and colors. These details are not at issue in the content of the story, but added for discovery in the ilustrations.

Magical
I just read this book to my son's 3 year old nursery school class and everyone loved it - the children, the teachers and myself. The teacher even asked for the title so she could get it to read to the kids. It is fun to see all of the veggies in such big proportions - the boys respond to the forklifts, chain saws etc.

Garden wonder
I have been looking for a book on gardening and growing things for young children and this is just the thing. Adding magic to a child's love of gardening works because gardens can be magical. I'm using this in a storyhour for 3 - 5 year old children.