There's No Such Thing as Vegetables

December 1, 2023
A lesson in agriculture has larger implications in this deep dive into what constitutes a vegetable. Sent to the community garden next door to pick some veggies for a meal, young Chester, who presents as Asian, is quick to discover that every supposed "vegetable" he encounters declares itself to be something else entirely. The broccoli claims to be a flower, the potato, a root, and the kale, a leaf. In fact, the supposed veggies all make the startling argument that there's no such thing as vegetables. Chester attempts to fight back with facts, but every definition falls apart. Veggies are plants? So are trees. They don't have sugar, suggests Chester. What about sugar beets? They're good in salads? So's bacon! Lukoff isn't attempting to break down taxonomies but is instead making a larger point about the sometimes arbitrary ways in which humans label our world. Larger points about semantic satiation and social constructs may be lost on the elementary school crowd, but a story about plants arguing their way out of a salad bowl is funny no matter how you slice it. It helps enormously that the art is by Tsurumi, a master of hilarious visual gags and irate tomatoes, who brings to life in a cartoon-based format the gently defiant edibles. Subversion in the salad! Destabilization with dressing! Social constructs fall by the wayside in this clever review. (Picture book. 4-7)

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November 6, 2023
Sent to an abundant community garden to gather vegetables for a salad, young Chester is quickly thwarted by the prospective ingredients—who insist that vegetables aren’t really a thing—in this category-savvy picture book. Digitally finished pencil cartoons by Tsurumi (Mr. Watson’s Chickens) portray the garden habitués with maximum spunk as each insists on being called by their given name and plant part rather than being labeled as a vegetable. A broccoli floret named Juanita says it’s a flower, kale bundle Beatrice is a leaf, Pietro the potato is a root, and an eggplant, cucumber, and pepper (Damon, Karen, and Parveen, respectively) are “fruits, dude.” Chester, who reads as East Asian, gets an informative earful via dialogue balloons by Lukoff (Awake, Asleep), whose colorful garden personalities are bound to tickle readers. So too will the idea that basic concepts can prove more social construct than fact—or, as an ear of corn explains by way of analogy, “Don’t think too hard about language and how every word you say is just a collection of random sounds.” An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Saba Sulaiman, Talcott Notch Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House.

February 1, 2024
Grades K-3 Chester's mom sends him to the community garden to pick vegetables for a salad, but he has a difficult time because all the plants inform him that there's no such thing as vegetables. Broccoli and Artichoke are flowers, after all; Potato is a root; Kale is a leaf; Eggplant and Cucumber are fruits. They further argue their merits--they attract pollinators, gather sunlight, and transport oxygen--until Chester eventually cedes their point and forgoes salad for a sandwich. Tsurumi's hand-drawn and digitally colored illustrations give distinct personalities to each plant, making lettuce look emo and celery look sleepy with equal adeptness. The story is straightforward and makes some scientific and salient (if a bit dry) points. Most uniquely, the book highlights some things that are rarely found in picture books, both in illustration (kohlrabi, chard, and parsnip) and in concept (how language creates categories, an aside on semantic satiation, and back matter on the dangers of social constructs). Though heavy-handed, this book can be appreciated for its representation of a diverse community-garden experience.

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March 1, 2024

Gr 1-3-Chester's mom wants him to get some vegetables from the community garden for a salad. This turns out to be a tricky task when each so-called vegetable he finds is sassy and unhelpful, explaining why it is not what he is seeking. Eggplant is a fruit, carrot and potato are roots, kale is a leaf, broccoli is a flower. Finally, the kale breaks it to him-there is no such thing as a vegetable. After hearing about the jobs of the fruits, flowers, roots, and leaves, not to mention how angry the beet is at having its sugar content questioned, a defeated Chester asks, "If there is no such thing as vegetables, why do people call you vegetables?" The crux of the book arrives at last. The foodstuffs question the reality of human-made categories: money, countries, states, language-and vegetables. Mind blown, Chester tells them he's going to have a sandwich for lunch instead of a salad. On the final page there is Lukoff's thought-provoking note about social constructs surrounding categories. Tsurumi's excellent illustrations give Chester and the myriad vegetables individual personalities, including some wonderfully amusing facial expressions. Her use of movement, perspective, color, and white space help move the mash-up of game-changing facts plugged awkwardly into cartoon-style storytelling forward. The almost exclusive use of speech balloons occasionally crowds the page, simply because there are so many speaking parts, but it is successful overall. The humans depicted have a variety of skin tones. VERDICT The mixed bag doesn't diminish the intriguing ideas, despite the somewhat forced format.-Catherine Callegari

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