Mr. Potato Head's Big Night Out - A Book for the Ages
Written: Feb 24 '05 (Updated Feb 24 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Few pages; Lots of great colorful pictures; Cheap
Cons: None This is Potato Head Nirvana
The Bottom Line: This is an entertaining book for spudophiles and non spudophiles alike.
|
|
|
| nagels's Full Review: Mr. Potato Head's Big Night Out Books |
Mr. Potato Head’s Big Night Out is a book for the ages, ages eight and up. In a very unscientific study, I asked a sampling of youngsters to read aloud to me a page or two of the book. It’s too difficult for first graders and some second graders to read independently.
Most in third grade and above could read this book independently with little prompting required. Listed here are a few of the more challenging words: special, violent, mushy, movie, rushed, yawned, stadium, Idaho, basketball, league, restaurant, expensive, sighed, minute, wrestling, and photosynthesis. Just kidding about that last word. The list is not all-inclusive but should be enough to judge the book’s appropriateness for an intended reader. The older students understood and enjoyed the verbal humor and puns. The younger students didn’t always grasp the writer’s humor but still enjoyed the expressive pictures.
I purchased this little paperback on Half.com for a good price, not that I’m a tightwad or anything. One could say this book is really square since it measures 8” by 8”. Its attractive, motivating cover shows Mr. And Mrs. Potato Head, dressed to the nines, ballroom dancing. The handsome husband is clenching a long stemmed rose between his teeth.
The inside of each cover is lined with small alternating pictures of the Potato Head couple. The pages of this literary gem aren’t numbered, but using the thumb-flip method, I have determined that it contains 24 pages, more or less.
APPEARANCE AND FEEL The pages of this vegetable volume are made of heavyweight paper with a modest, satiny gloss. The pages turn nicely using the forefinger and thumb or the thumb-flip method. Each page, save one, features a large picture of at least one of the tuber couple. The colors are vibrant and the illustrations exquisite, complementing the text perfectly. Mr. Potato Head in particular was a great model for the illustrator. The illustrious spud skillfully expresses every emotion from A to B. He could have been a successful television actor had his audition for the part of Starchy Bunker on the classic All in the Family show been judged more favorably.
SPUDOPSIS
WARNING! It’s not easy to give a spudopsis of such a short book, its pages bulging with large illustrations , without giving away much of the plot.
It’s a quiet Saturday night at the Potato Head homestead. The vegetable pair is lounging in front of the television in their recliners like a pair of couch potatoes. They both declare boredom and decide to have a night on the town. Dressed in their Saturday best, they venture out looking for fun and adventure. Their first stop is the theater, but they can’t decide on a movie. Spud Wars? Gone With the Potato? Spuds in Black? None of them appeal Next stop for the Spud Couple is the dance club but they can’t decide between the waltz or the mash potato. Unperturbed the tubers then decide to watch a game. Again the choice between Skins Vs. Idaho football and women’s veggie basketball is unresolved. A subsequent attempt to agree on a restaurant ends similarly.
The frustrated Spuds decide to think of a place they both like. Inspiration strikes Mr. Potato Head. He lovingly leads his spudaciously beautiful wife, her eyes closed, to the place they both love. You’ll have to read the book to learn about their final stop.
Hint – Think of Dorothy’s words as she wakes up from her dream.
FINAL THOUGHTS - I recommend this literary epic (slight exaggeration) to potato bugs of all ages. It has the qualities I look for in a good book. It’s short, has lots of large pictures, just the right amount of humor, and has only two endearing characters. If you like tater tots, look elsewhere. Only adult characters dwell here.
Oddly the Spudman on the cover is not the potato man inside the book. The cover boy has hair and no moustache. The Potato Head in the story has no hair and a bushy moustache. I can only guess that my hero and idol used a tater double because the pose on the cover was too taxing; or perhaps he just juggled his parts for the cover shot.
All in all Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, vegetables in love, are wonderfully matched potatoes, making Mr. Potato Head's Big Night Out a fun and enjoyable read.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.