Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm
- Book Review,
by Jerdine Nolen
From Publishers Weekly
Harvey Potter has a latex thumb: he grows balloons. The girl who assists him is the only one to learn his secret, and it changes her life. "[Buehner's] expert use of light and shadow makes a day in the fields look downright glorious," said PW in a starred review. Ages 4-up.-- expert use of light and shadow makes a day in the fields look downright glorious," said PW in a starred review. Ages 4-up. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 4-This is the best sort of fantasy-imaginative, inventive, and believable. Harvey Potter is a wonder-he's the owner of a genuine U.S. Government Inspected Balloon farm. And Nolen's tale about this man, narrated by the African-American girl who learns balloon-farming magic from him, is equally wondrous. The author's understated, down-home text combines with Buehner's rich, rounded paintings to create a most satisfying whole. Buehner is a master character painter who gives three-dimensional life to the girl, Harvey, and all the wonderful balloons. This title should sail onto every library shelf. May Nolen grow a bumper crop of books.Kathleen Whalin, Greenwich Country Day School, CTCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Ages 5-8. In this original tall tale, Harvey Potter runs "a genuine, U.S. Government Inspected Balloon Farm." The storyteller is a friendly little neighbor girl with pigtails, whom we see as a grown-up balloon farmer on the book's last page. She's pictured staying up late to learn the secret of Harvey's magic planting process. Nolen's "true truth" style contrasts delightfully with the pictures of Harvey's crop, with balloons in all shapes and colors. The dry narrative humor may not reach all children, but the illustrations won't be forgotten. Hidden somewhere in each one, by the way, is a rabbit, a tyrannosaur, a cat, a chicken, a cow, and a pig. Mary Harris Veeder
From Kirkus Reviews
Harvey Potter owns a genuine US Government Inspected balloon farm where he grows balloons to order: clowns, animals, monsters for Halloween, and even--when the young narrator who has been delightedly watching the crops gets old enough to strike out on her own--a huge floater to carry her off. What's his secret? Since he farms at night, no one knows. Nolen's writing has an oral lilt to it; Buehner (Adventures of Taxi Dog, etc.) depicts Potter's unique crop in jellybean colors, bobbing atop cornstalks in businesslike rows. A wonderfully appealing premise, skillfully developed. (Picture book. 6-8) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
"Downright Glorious."
"The best sort of fantasy--imaginative, inventive, and believable."
Book Description
Harvey Potter was a very strange fellow indeed. He was a farmer but not like any farmer you've ever met. He didn't grow corn, okra, or tomatoes. Harvey Potter grew balloons. No one knew exactly how he did it, but with the help of the light of a full moon, one friendly child catches a peek of just how Harvey Potter does it. And keeps some magic for herself."This is the best sort of fantasy imaginative, inventive, and believable. Harvey Potter is a wonder he's the owner of a genuine U.S. Government Inspected Balloon farm. And Nolen's tale about this man, narrated by the African-American girl who learns balloon-farming magic from him, is equally wondrous.... This title should sail onto every library shelf. May Nolen grow a bumper crop of books." School Library Journal."Downright glorious."Publishers Weekly(starred review).
Card catalog description
A child ventures out in the middle of the night to see how Harvey Potter grows his wonderful balloons.
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