The Giant Carrot by Olya Ratnikova & Irina Lisichkina – The Strawberry Post

A book review of a fun children’s picture book about Rabbit who spots a giant carrot in the ground and tries to pull it up, but it’s stuck, so Bear joins in with pulling, but how many animals will it take to pull the carrot out of the ground?

About The Giant Carrot

Title: The Giant Carrot
Author: Olya Ratnikova
Illustrator: Irina Lisichkina
Publisher: Independently published
Genre: Children’s picture book, Learning
Book format reviewed: Paperback
Sweet Strawberries:

Description:  Garden fun, friendly animals, and a carrot too big to believe – this delightful book is perfect for fans of teamwork tales and gentle humor. Ideal for bedtime or classroom reading, “The Giant Carrot” joyfully celebrates persistence, cooperation, and the sweet rewards of helping one another. Perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and early readers.

*Free copy provided by author for review…

My review and thoughts on The Giant Carrot

Aw, this is such a fun picture book with some lovely illustrations. One day Rabbit discovers a giant carrot sticking out of the ground and tries to pull it out, but although he pulls and pulls the carrot stays put. So Rabbit gets the help of Bear to help him pull the carrot out. Bear holds on to Rabbit and Rabbit holds on to the carrot and they pull and pull, but the carrot still won’t budge. What other friends can Rabbit find to help him pull out the carrot? This paperback is filled with some lovely illustrations and text on matt pages.

I love this story which is quite simple and shows Rabbit excited about a giant carrot they discover and wanting to pull it out of the ground. When it doesn’t move though Rabbit gets the help of Bear and then Bear gets the help of another animal. More and more animals get involved until they are all pulling at the carrot to get it out of the ground. This story reminds me of a similar story from my childhood and from my Polish family called the Giant Turnip and it has a similar tale where more and more characters end up being added to the line that are all trying to pull out the turnip. Although the turnip’s story has more repetition in the text than this book, I do like this giant carrot story, especially for the lovely and fun illustrations on each page.

Every double page shows what is happening and I do love how each picture is so colourful and fun. The characters expressions are all easy to see and there are some fun details to spot in many of the illustrations such as the little chicks or bird watching the carrot pulling as well as the fun image on the last page that contains lots of different animals. The end pages are also very fun showing you what’s hiding in the soil where the carrot was pulled from. The story has a good ending and I like how everyone celebrates what is happening. Overall a very fun and simple story but a great new twist on the classic turnip story I loved in my childhood.

Other books by Olya Ratnikova

-Read review – My Florida ABC by Olya Ratnikova & Irina Lisichkina
-Read review – ABC by Olya Ratnikova & Julia Belenkova (Rick and Dan: The Secrets of Smart Behaviour)
-Read review – Rick and Dan: The Secrets of Smart Behaviour – Fire Safety Basics by Olya Ratnikova & Julia Belenkova (Rick and Dan: The Secrets of Smart Behaviour #2)
-Read review – Rick and Dan: The Secrets of Smart Behaviour – Road Academy by Olya Ratnikova & Julia Belenkova (Rick and Dan The Secrets of Smart Behaviour #1)

Other picture books about vegetables and fruits

-Read review – Bendy Banana by Christina B Bianco
-Read review – Mandy is Still a Banana by Zoe Arena & Amy Evans
-Read review – The Princess and the (Greedy) Pea by Leigh Hodgkinson
-Read review – Peas on Earth by Huew Lewis Jones & Ben Sanders
-Read review – That Fruit is Mine! by Anuska Allepuz

What do you think of this book?  Do you like carrots?  Have you ever encountered a larger than usual vegetable of fruit?  Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂