The Talking Vegetables

by Won-Lyd Paye

Book Review

School Library Journal :

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K-Gr 4–From the Dan people of northeastern Liberia comes this traditional tale of lazy Spider (a character akin to Anansi), who refuses to help his neighbors clear the land for the village farm, plant seeds, or pull weeds. Later on, when Spider decides to pick some ripe vegetables to eat with his rice, the tomatoes, cucumbers, and pumpkins turn him away. (Why do you think you can pick me when you didn't come to clear the land or plant my seeds or pull the weeds? Get out of here! the tomato says.) Paschkis's brightly colored folk-art illustrations, similar to those in Head, Body, Legs: A Story from Liberia (Holt, 2002), show the villagers to be an elephant, a hen, a crocodile, a leopard, a monkey, a snake, and a butterfly. Some of these animals are shown hiding among the talking vegetables, whose unfriendly faces convince Spider to run home and eat his rice plain. Read aloud, this simple but solid moralistic tale will delight youngsters and make them want to participate in the telling.–Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH

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