Review by Booklist Review
Ages 5-8. In this original tall tale, Harvey Potter runs "a genuine, U.S. Government Inspected Balloon Farm." The storyteller is a friendly little neighbor girl with pigtails, whom we see as a grown-up balloon farmer on the book's last page. She's pictured staying up late to learn the secret of Harvey's magic planting process. Nolen's "true truth" style contrasts delightfully with the pictures of Harvey's crop, with balloons in all shapes and colors. The dry narrative humor may not reach all children, but the illustrations won't be forgotten. Hidden somewhere in each one, by the way, is a rabbit, a tyrannosaur, a cat, a chicken, a cow, and a pig. ~--Mary Harris Veeder
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Harvey Potter has a latex thumb: he grows balloons. The girl who assists him is the only one to learn his secret, and it changes her life. "[Buehner's] expert use of light and shadow makes a day in the fields look downright glorious," said PW in a starred review. Ages 4-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-This is the best sort of fantasy-imaginative, inventive, and believable. Harvey Potter is a wonder-he's the owner of a genuine U.S. Government Inspected Balloon farm. And Nolen's tale about this man, narrated by the African-American girl who learns balloon-farming magic from him, is equally wondrous. The author's understated, down-home text combines with Buehner's rich, rounded paintings to create a most satisfying whole. Buehner is a master character painter who gives three-dimensional life to the girl, Harvey, and all the wonderful balloons. This title should sail onto every library shelf. May Nolen grow a bumper crop of books.-Kathleen Whalin, Greenwich Country Day School, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Harvey Potter's unusual crop is balloons -- which grow just like corn on long, sturdy stalks. Harvey Potter himself is not at all unusual, and his friend, a young African-American girl, is determined to uncover the secret of his curious harvest. The story is lively, but of even greater attraction are the vivid, air-brushed illustrations of balloons with expressive faces in every size, color, and shape. From HORN BOOK 1994, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Harvey Potter owns a genuine US Government Inspected balloon farm where he grows balloons to order: clowns, animals, monsters for Halloween, and even--when the young narrator who has been delightedly watching the crops gets old enough to strike out on her own--a huge floater to carry her off. What's his secret? Since he farms at night, no one knows. Nolen's writing has an oral lilt to it; Buehner (Adventures of Taxi Dog, etc.) depicts Potter's unique crop in jellybean colors, bobbing atop cornstalks in businesslike rows. A wonderfully appealing premise, skillfully developed. (Picture book. 6-8)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
