Rah, Rah, Radishes!

PreS-Gr 2—This cheerleader chant for vegetables in all their variations is perfectly timed to ride the impassioned slow-food movement popularized by the First Lady and Food Network celebrity chefs. Sayre's catchy, rhyming verse has an infectious rhythm that begs to be read aloud. "Rah, rah, radishes!/Red and white./Carrots are calling./Take a bite!/Oh boy, bok choy!/Brussels sprout./Broccoli. Cauliflower./Shout it out!" Sayre goes far beyond the traditional vegetables shown in picture-book classics like Lois Ehlert's Growing Vegetable Soup (Harcourt, 1987), introducing readers to Swiss chard, shallots, a variety of South American peppers, fennel, parsnips, and other veggie delights. Each page calls out a cheer-worthy vegetable in two short lines of text, accompanied by a large, colorful photograph. Sayre's work in this department is not the most polished; the images have the homegrown feel of pictures taken at the local farmer's market during a family outing, setting just the right tone for a work that will have high appeal for families eager to learn about the food world beyond the grocery store. The author closes with a thank you to farmers and bees, as well as the charge, "Sun and season, leaf and stalk./Know them. Grow them!/Veggies rock!" With its upbeat, easy-to-digest text and large, clear images, this book will become a go-to choice in spring-themed preschool storytimes and early elementary health or environmental units.—Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, MI