Rah, Rah, Radishes!  A Vegetable Chant by April Pully Sayre – (2011 Beach Lane Books, New York)

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I will get a share in a new CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) program getting underway this coming season – my mouth is watering just thinking of all the fresh, LOCAL produce that I will get every week (and my head is spinning trying to imagine how I will prepare them all in meals, especially given my meatatarian hubby’s “allergy” to veggies!).    I’m thrilled that more and more of these CSA programs are becoming available for Albertans – especially for those of us who do not have the space to grow a significant amount of our own produce!

While I anticipate the CSA share and look forward to the opening dates of the local (seasonal) farmers’ markets and U-Pick farms, I simply have to share an adorable picture book I found at the library the other day:  April Pulley Sayre’s Rah, Rah, Radishes!  A Vegetable Chant.  A celebration of farmers’ markets and all of the good, fresh food harvested and sold by local growers, Rah, Rah, Radishes!  is a total gem, with punchy, fun, rhymes:

Root for rutabagas.

Bounce for beets!

Pile up parsnips.

Turnip treats!

Snag some sweet corn!

Shuck an ear.

Celebrate celery.

Give a cheer!

Accompanied by absolutely STELLAR photography of all of the vegetables in their full, colourful glory, the book looks good enough to eat.  It’s like a seed catalogue with a boppin’ soundtrack (and no confusing cultivar names).  If you’ve got a little one in your life, introduce him or her to this book – and the exciting world of vegetables.

Now, ‘scuse me, I’m off to make a recording of this book to play back while my hubby is sleeping…I’ll get him to eat kohlrabi somehow!

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Check out April Sayre’s veggie photos and more info at AprilSayre.com.  (And watch for her fruit-themed picture book Go, Go, Grapes! in May of this year).

Related posts:  Book review:  Water, Weed, and Wait.