Cabbages and Kings. Paintings by Jamie Wyeth. [Inscribed by author.]

Seabrook, Elizabeth, with Jamie Wyeth (illustrations)

ISBN 10: 0670874620 / ISBN 13: 9780670874620

Published by New York, Viking, (1997)., 1997

About this Item

First edition. Laminated pictorial boards with dust jacket. Fine in fine dust jacket. Inscribed on the title page by Elizabeth Seabrook.

Seller Inventory # 3046

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Cabbages and Kings. Paintings by Jamie Wyeth. [Inscribed by author.]
• Publisher: New York, Viking, (1997).
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670874620
• ISBN 13: 9780670874620
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Wyeth, Jamie
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Catalogue XXX

About this title

Synopsis

A special friendship begins in Farmer Green's garden when a young asparagus stalk strikes up a conversation with his neighbor, a cabbage, and the two vegetables discover that they have much in common.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2. The vegetables in Farmer Jones's garden compare their various merits as they anxiously wait to see who among them will be chosen to be shown at the county fair. In the process, a friendship blossoms between Albert, a tall asparagus plant, and Herman, a plump cabbage who is ultimately taken to the fair. At the end of the season, Albert is one of the few remaining asparagus stalks. Since he has grown too tall and seedy, he will have to winter over, but sprouts a golden crown of ferns in consolation. As his family settles down for their long winter nap, Albert dreams happily of cabbages like Herman wearing blue ribbons. Wyeth's richly colored garden scenes offer a variety of interesting perspectives, but the writing has an amateur quality and the anthropomorphism of the vegetables is cliched.?Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Seabrook's first book involves a pair of anthropormorphized garden vegetables--Albert the asparagus and Herman the cabbage- -who overcome their obvious differences and forge an alliance against the dangers of their surroundings. At any time, they could be nibbled by the rabbit, picked by the farmer's wife and daughter or run over by the household dog. The fate of each food item is tenuous--in a less than dramatic telling, one goes to flower, the other to the fair. The story ambles along in conversations between the two veggie friends, lacking any sense of anticipation, and astute readers might be alarmed by the anticlimactic, blue-ribbon-prize-winning ending for Herman: It surely puts an end of his friendship with Albert, and it probably means he'll be eaten. Wyeth, facing the difficult challenge of enlivening sedentary vegetables, successfully employs wind, a dog, and subtle facial characterisitics to vivify his pastoral paintings. (Picture book. 4-7) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 4^-8. Seabrook has written an unusual friendship story about Albert, a stalk of asparagus, and Herman, a cabbage and a garden newcomer. All through the summer Albert teaches his new friend the ways of the garden, warning him about the resident rabbit, explaining which plants are allowed to go to seed and which are picked yearly, and encouraging Herman to grow large and beautiful for the county fair. Wyeth (the son of Andrew Wyeth) uses striking impressionistic paintings to add beauty to a story that will appeal to a wide audience. The book will be especially useful for classes studying plants and gardens; it is also very suitable for lap sharing. Helen Rosenberg