Talia and the Rude Vegetables

by Linda Elovitz Marshall, Francesca Assirelli (Illustrator)

Overview

“How can a vegetable be ‘rude’?” Talia wonders, when she mis-hears her grandmother asking her to gather “root” vegetables for a Rosh Hashanah stew. As Talia digs in the garden, she collects the twisted, ornery carrots and parsnips—the “rude” vegetables that she thinks her grandmother wants—and finds a good home for the rest.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761352181
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2011
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Linda Elovitz Marshall raised her four children, a small flock of sheep, lots of zucchinis and countless rabbits in a historic farmhouse overlooking the Hudson River in upstate New York. A graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University, she has, in addition to writing and farming, taught early childhood and parenting education, owned a bookstore. Her previous books include Talia and the Rude Vegetables and Talia and the Very YUM Kippur.

Francesca Assirelli studied painting at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Naples. She has illustrated many Italian, French, and English children's books. She loves children, and spends hours playing with her enormous dog, Artu.

Editorial Reviews

"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." --Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

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

School Library Journal

Young Talia's grandmother asks her to go to the garden and bring back seven root vegetables for a stew to welcome Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Hearing "rude vegetables," Talia wonders what they are. She digs up each requested vegetable but when it seems "perfect," she puts it aside in a basket. When it doesn't—like the ornery onion that will not pull up—she decides it is "rude" and puts it in the pot for the stew. This is also the fate of the show-off garlic, the twisted carrot, the terrible turnip, the lumpy potatoes, the ugly parsnip, and the "rude-abagas." Talia takes the basket with the good vegetables she found to the rabbi, who will give them to a family for a sweet New Year. Her grandmother laughs at Talia's mistake as they prepare for the New Year holiday together, but is glad that she has helped the hungry. Assirelli visualizes the simple text in simplified, solid forms. Talia is shown on the cover in a solid brown garden, pulling at the tops of a huge carrot. There is a stillness to the clear blue sky and unadorned house with a row of flowers in front. Talia's sketchy face hardly changes expression as she is frequently dwarfed by the vegetables. Readers should enjoy the sly humor and may be tempted to try the included recipe for "Rude Vegetable Stew." Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

Children's Literature - Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

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)

Kirkus Reviews