Carrot Seed

From Barnes & Noble

A small boy plants a carrot seed, only to be told by his family members that it won't grow. The little boy ignores the family, continues to tend his seed, and is rewarded one day with a HUGE carrot. This story about belief in oneself has been enjoyed by children for more than two decades. Johnson's flat and cartoonlike illustrations match Krauss's simple text perfectly.

Parenting

In this cunningly paced fable about patience and standing one's ground, a little boy plants a carrot seed, weeds and waters the spot, and waits for something to happen. A parade of nay-sayers drop by to tell the boy, 'I'm afraid it won't come up. 'The big moment is a stupendous surprise. . . the little hero's homegrown triumph.

Children's Literature - Susie Wilde

Toddlers who like to carry around a favorite story will be glad for the board book formatting of Krauss' 1945 classic book, The Carrot Seed. This black and white illustrated story tells of a little boy with big faith. Don't be put off by the simplicity of design and lack of color, there's a good reason why this book has endured for over fifty years.

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

What a great message! A little boy plants a carrot seed. He tends it with loving care in spite of the dire predictions by everyone that nothing will grow. Finally his faithful service is rewarded-an enormous carrot is his reward. Around for more than fifty years, this little treasure gets new life as a board book. 1993, orig.

Children's Literature

This simplest of stories for the very young (first published in 1945 and never out of print) has a new, 60th-anniversary edition, essentially unchanged except for a bold new cover design and deeper colors on its pages. Krauss wrote many more stories, including two Caldecott Honor books and the beloved A Hole Is to Dig (illustrated by Maurice Sendak). The illustrator of The Carrot Seed is her husband, famous at the time for his comic strip Barnaby, but later best-known for Harold and the Purple Crayon. The collaborators show us a little boy planting a carrot seed, watering it, waiting for it to come up in spite of doubts by his family. His care, patience, and unshakable belief are rewarded when, one day, up pop tall green carrot fronds waving above his head. The final picture shows him wheeling away a huge, dark orange carrot—it has come up "just as he knew it would." Krauss has chosen each word with care; Johnson's spare pictures use an essential minimum of line and shape surrounded by lots of open space. Chris Van Allsburg would choose The Carrot Seed for his "Western canon for children." Sendak believes it to be a perfect picture book "that permanently transformed the face of children's book publishing." A truly minimalist creation, this tale of faith and belief on the part of a child living in his own world is deeply satisfying to the youngest readers, and an enduring classic among children's books. 2005 (orig. 1945), HarperCollins, Ages 2 to 7.
—Barbara L. Talcroft