Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This laugh-out-loud title keeps the little jokes coming. Young Talia, a city girl, mishears her grandmother's request for the child's help in fetching root vegetables from the garden for a sweet Rosh Hashanah stew. Talia proceeds to wrestle assorted insolent veggies-crooked carrots, peculiar parsnips, and, of course, rude-abagas- from the garden, gathering at the same time nice, compliant ones that she gives to the local rabbi, since her grandmother has specifically requested the rude ones. Talia manages to perform both familial and social duty-she has done a mitzvah to feed the hungry, explains her pleased grandmother, who also gently clarifies the original request. An easy and flexible recipe for "Rude Vegetable Stew" concludes the volume. Quirky, cool-palette color illustrations by Italian artist Assirelli perfectly convey the whimsical narrative in Marshall's first children's book. This lovely New Year's book can be read and enjoyed year-round. Ages 3-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-Talia's grandmother asks her to pick seven root vegetables from the garden for a Rosh Hashanah recipe. Mishearing her, the child seeks out "rude" vegetables, creatively interpreting the plants' awkward shapes as misbehavior. In the process, she sets aside the unwanted perfect produce and does a mitzvah by donating it to feed the hungry. This is a book of missed opportunity. It starts out strong, as Talia ponders the meaning of the Jewish New Year: asking forgiveness for misdeeds and promising to do better. This theme is reinforced by her thoughts on the first few veggies; for instance, an ornery onion that is difficult to dig up "won't do what it's told," and a garishly purple garlic bulb "seems like a big show-off." However, the story is weakened by Talia's explanations petering out halfway through, and by the lack of explicit redemption for these rude vegetables (being cooked into delicious stew could make up for their supposed bad behavior, but this is never made clear). In an anticlimactic ending, the story stops before the vegetables are even cooked, and readers never find out whether Talia learned anything from her mistake. A recipe for vegetable stew is included.-Heidi Estrin, Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL (c) Copyright 2011. 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
Talia is confounded by her grandmother's request for some "rude vegetables" (carrots, turnips, potatoes, etc.) for the Rosh Hashanah stew. While digging up an "ornery onion" and "garish garlic," she thinks about her own behavior; all ends with holiday sweetness. The joke goes on a little long, but the end is rewarding. Autumnal colors and rounded shapes evoke comfortable family scenes. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A little girl's misunderstanding, the harvesting of some root vegetables and a recipe for stew merge for an amusing Jewish New Year story.Talia, a city girl, is visiting her grandmother, who tells her to "bring back seven root vegetables" from the garden. Hearing "rude" for "root," the confused child ponders over this while she proceeds to find her perception of rude veggies in an ornery onion, a garish garlic, a crooked carrot, a terrible turnip, lumpy bumpy potatoes, big ugly parsnips and "rude-abagas...definitely rude." Pleased with how well she has satisfied Grandma's request, Talia decides to donate the other perfectly nice vegetables to the Rabbi as a mitzvah for a poor family. The narrative, with its recurring theme of "what Grandma wants," is matched well to Assirelli's illustrations. Their terra-cotta and earthy hues combine with deep purple and olive-green tones for kitchen and backyard scenes. Talia's round face is drawn with thin lines detailing expressions of surprise, pleasure and the exertion of digging and pulling. Marshall incorporates many new words to extend the term "rude" while at the same time allowing youngsters, who will soon realize Talia's mix-up, to learn the names of the various root vegetables.A charming fall story loosely structured by Judaic concepts. (recipe) (Picture book. 4-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
