One Potato, Two Potato
Grandma Diane reads One Potato, Two Potato by Cynthia DeFelice Pictures by Andrea U’Ren
“Mr. and Mrs. O’Grady are so poor they have just one of everything to share – one potato a day, one chair, one blanket full of holes, and one gold coin for a rainy day. After digging up the last potato in their patch, Mr. O’Grady comes upon a big black object. It’s a pot – no ordinary pot, for what they soon discover is that whatever goes into it comes out doubled! Suddenly the O’Gradys aren’t destitute anymore. But what they really long for is one friend apiece. Can the magic pot give them that?
This retelling of a Chinese folktale pays tribute to the author’s Irish heritage, and to the joys of an old marriage, new friendships, and the impulse to share. Using pen and gouache, the artist shows the “simple” characters in all their winning complexity.
One Potato, Two Potato is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children’s Book of the Year.”
Cynthia DeFelice - Author
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Cynthia DeFelice is the award-winning author of over thirty books for young readers.
“I enjoy the thrill of creating a character out of thin air, and of feeling that character come to life beneath my fingers on the computer keyboard. I like working at two o’clock in the morning if I want to, and wearing pajamas or comfy clothes to work.
I try to write books that I would have loved to read when I was a child. It is very gratifying to hear from children that something I wrote touched them, making them laugh or cry, or think and feel something new.””