The Turnip

by Jan Brett, Jan Brett (Illustrator)

Overview

In a rollicking, cumulative tale, a badger family and their friends–Hedgie, Mr. Ram and Vanya, the horse–struggle to pull up a giant turnip. A cocky rooster steps in and pulls, sending him into the air, holding onto the turnip. No one knows that a mother bear in her underground den has kicked the turnip up through the soil to give the family room to sleep through the winter.
    
Once again Jan Brett brings an original twist to a favorite folktale. Snow covers the farm in rural Russia as badgers and friends in old-fashioned clothes, and bears marching through bright-colored borders,  send young readers laughing from page to page.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399170706
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	11/03/2015
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.70(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	AD610L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Jan Brett (www.janbrett.com) is the beloved bestselling author / illustrator of many books for children. She lives in Norwell, Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

2015-08-05
A classic Russian tale gets Brett's signature artwork and a twist ending. When Badger Girl finds a giant turnip in the vegetable patch, she immediately starts thinking of all the tasty things that could be made with a turnip that size. But she can't pull it out, not even with the assistance of Badger Boy, Mother Badger, or Father Badger, each new character heralded in the recto vignette on the previous page. Passing friends—Hedgie, Mr. Ram, and Vanya, the horse—join in, one by one, as the snowflakes signaling winter's arrival start to fall, but even all pulling together, they can't manage it. A rooster who had a narrow escape from a cooking pot happens by. Meanwhile, a mother bear and two cubs, whom observant readers have been watching in the vignettes on the versos, climb into their winter den to hibernate only to find a giant turnip in their bed. Well, their pushing and Rooster's pulling coincide to pop the turnip out, and it's turnip pancakes for those aboveground, sleep for the bears, and an honorary home for Rooster. Brett brings the Russian countryside setting to life. Her anthropomorphized animals wear clothing in shades of blues, white, and reds, and the patterns are beautiful. The wooden fences and house are elaborately carved, and Brett's borders are highly detailed, many times looking like carved wood. Another Brett winner to add to the shelf. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews