Jessica Vega, Gabriel Castillo
The Great, Big Enormous Turnip is an adorable story about and old man who plants a turnip and wants it to grow big and strong. What he doesn’t expect is that his wish comes true in an extraordinary way. With a captivating plot, Alexei Tolstoy achieves an entertaining piece of writing.
When the old man sees that the turnip reaches a huge size, he anxiously wants to dig the vegetable out. Tired of pulling it up and not getting any success, he searches for some help and calls his wife. The old couple makes a big effort but they not even together can pull the turnip up. After the failure, they decide to call some other characters, and some animals are included among them. They all together pull and pull the turnip up.
Tolstoy’s narrative is intelligible and uncomplicated. He uses a simple vocabulary and a repetitive line of events which make the story completely suitable for children. Moreover, a message of cooperation is present throughout the story since everybody contributes to solve the conflict. No matter the helper’s size or strength, help is always valuable and respected.
Helen Oxenbury’s illustrations are outstanding, clear and incredibly funny when it comes to introduce the characters. Drawings are well-defined and colours are vivid. Oxenbury draws an endearing final picture which shows that the long and arduous work during the whole story is worthwhile.
With a simple but catchy narrative, a likeable message of cooperation and appealing illustrations, The Great, Big, Enormous Turnip is for sure a reliable choice for children.
Fantastic review guys! Very well organized! I totally agree with the message of cooperation in this story. Good job!
ReplyDeleteVery well done guys!! I love how you describe the essence of the story. Though I find the story a bit boring, it is true what you say about the pedagogical aim the autor has in mind. He teaches children the importance of cooperation, but also how the littlest or powerless can participate and help us.
ReplyDeleteVery magazine style, love it! I like how you highlighted the sense of cooperation this story has. The description of the drawings is interesting. You show clearly how they help to make this book more entertaining. I think that maybe it should be more explicit the age of the intended audience, since this book was for children between 8 and 11 years old (or something like that). The sentence “He uses a simple vocabulary and a repetitive line of events” is a bit misleading to me. Good review :)
ReplyDeleteGreat review. It is clear and well organized. I agree with Mariana that you should be more precise about the age of intended readers. Both Jess and Gaby are brilliant!!!
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