Rah, Rah, Radishes!

Toward the end of August, those of us with vegetable gardens find ourselves with an abundance of crops—and those who don’t grow their own vegetables can delight in all of the produce available at local Farmers’ Markets. August has been designated Celery, Fennel and Cactus Month along with Mushroom and Onion Month. But for me as a New Englander, August might as well be Zucchini Month.

I find books for the Almanac in a variety of ways. But certainly one of the most pleasant ways comes from recommendations of other book lovers. In May I was sitting in Isabel Baker’s booth at a conference in Philadelphia and asked this maven of the preschool set if she had located anything she really loved this year. As the proprietor of Book Vine, Isabel knows more about books for the very young than anyone in the country. She reads, thinks, and dreams about exciting our youngest children with books. Into my hands, without further ado, Isabel placed a copy of April Pulley Sayre’s Rah, Rah, Radishes! The book actually has been dedicated to Isabel, but that was not the reason for her enthusiasm.

In this new book, April Pulley Sayre has written a love letter to vegetables—all kinds of vegetables. She includes celery, mushrooms, onions, squash, kohlrabi, cucumbers, and eggplant. The text has been constructed as a cheer for vegetables: “Cucumber’s cool. Kohlrabi’s queen!” Not only does reading it aloud make one long for vegetables, but the brilliant and crisp color photographs taken at the South Bend, Indiana, Farmers’ Market show just as much enthusiasm. By the time readers come to the final statement, “Veggies rock!” they have become true believers themselves. Sayre also includes an informative afterword about vegetables and a list of some that didn’t make it into the book.

The book naturally lends itself to writing exercises—how would a child cheer on some of his or her favorite vegetables? So toast those tomatoes; fill up your baskets with fennel; and use today to celebrate vegetables. Rah, Rah, Radishes! Yes!

Here’s a page from Rah, Rah, Radishes!: