Comments for The Carrot Seed

The Carrot Seed: 01/02/07

My in-laws have a very old copy of The Carrot Seed among their collection of children's books. As I am a fan of Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon books, I had to read this book while visiting for New Year's.

The Carrot seed is one of Crockett Johnson's many collaborations. In this case, Ruth Krauss tells the story of an optimistic and patient boy who plants a single carrot seed even though he's repeated told "it won't come up."

According to Crockett's website The Carrot Seed is the first American picture book. It is certainly the oldest example of a classic picture book I've ever read. It follows the now standard method of story telling for the youngest of readers: a bold illustration which takes up most of the page and a few sparse words (a sentence at most) to counterpoint the drawing.

A Stretch of the Legs:

Today Ian ran two important errands on the peninsula: picking up my pay check (because of the Federal holiday) and getting Caligula home from Shamrock Ranch. Caligula didn't want to come home as she was enjoying her nap outside on the shelf over her door. She howled all the way home but is now purring behind my head as I update this blog.

Meanwhile I was working from home. Harriet at first was enjoying her time home in familiar surroundings. She babbled for most of the morning, including singing something that sounded exactly like: "Hello; how are you" in tone. She can also say things that sound like: "mama", "uh-oh", and "I want more."

Near the end of the afternoon when I was pretty much done with work (and Harriet knew it), she made it plain that she was bored with being cooped up and wanted to go out. While it was too early to stray too far from my work computer, I did have time to take her on a walk around the complex. It was her first time seeing the entire Montevista complex and I think she enjoyed the walk. We didn't see any wild life except for one nondescript bird. Nonetheless it was a good quick stretch of the legs for me and a break from being inside for Harriet.

Steps: 10000