Sayre follows up her salute to vegetables (Rah, Rah, Radishes!, 2011) with this rousing chant in favor of fruit.
“Rah, rah, raspberries! / Go, go, grapes! / Savor the flavors. / Find fruity shapes!” With these staccato rhythms and cheerleading words, Sayre sets the stage for one long chant that will have kids clamoring for a fruit snack. Going well beyond (but including) the standard apple, orange, banana, grapes and berries, she entices readers with such exotics as tamarillo, kiwano, guava, rambutan, currant, durian and the wonderfully named dragon fruit. In piles, baskets and boxes brimming with fruit, Sayre shows off the colors and textures, yet she does not shy away from depicting even those specimens that are not completely perfect…. Taken primarily at farmer’s markets, mom-and-pop stores and fruit stands and often including hand-lettered signs proclaiming their farm of origin, her photographs send a subtle message to support local farmers and businesses…. Ah, would that readers could pluck Sayre’s art right off the page and savor its juiciness….even picky eaters are sure to be tempted.”
—Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2012
“This companion to Sayre’s Rah, Rah, Radishes! (S & S, 2011) introduces another important food group. Short, catchy rhyming phrases line nearly full-page photos of fruits…. The rhythm of the text and the size of the images make this book a good choice for sharing with a group…. The book ends with a page on fruit facts and a spread of fruit faces proclaiming: “Fruit is fun!” Kids are bound to agree.”
—School Library Journal, June 2012
“A companion to Rah, Rah, Radishes! A Vegetable Chant (2011), Sayre’s newest incantation is a
mouthwatering paean to fruit—from such usual suspects as blueberries and strawberries to more exotic tangelos, tamarillos, durians, persimmons, and kiwanos. Along with enjoying the simple rhymes'
pounding, elemental rhythms (“Figs are fabulous. / Currants call. / Love a lychee— / Fruit eyeball!”),
young audiences can feast their eyes on a set of large, intensely colored close-up photos of each fruit in,
usually, temptingly heaped-up grocery displays. Closing with a giggle-inducing spread of sliced-fruit
smiley faces followed by a final note on fruit’s natural functions and nutritional value, this will not only
forcibly turn storytime into snack time, but should also be a hit whether read alone or aloud, before or after any meal.”
— Booklist, July 1, 2012
Sayre follows up her salute to vegetables (Rah, Rah, Radishes!, 2011) with this rousing chant in favor of fruit. "Rah, rah, raspberries! / Go, go, grapes! / Savor the flavors. / Find fruity shapes!" With these staccato rhythms and cheerleading words, Sayre sets the stage for one long chant that will have kids clamoring for a fruit snack. Going well beyond (but including) the standard apple, orange, banana, grapes and berries, she entices readers with such exotics as tamarillo, kiwano, guava, rambutan, currant, durian and the wonderfully named dragon fruit. In piles, baskets and boxes brimming with fruit, Sayre shows off the colors and textures, yet she does not shy away from depicting even those specimens that are not completely perfect. Several fruits are cut to show off their insides, such as the seeds of the kiwi and pomegranate and the intriguing cross sections of a lychee and mangosteen (readers may find themselves wondering which parts of these are edible). Taken primarily at farmer's markets, mom-and-pop stores and fruit stands and often including hand-lettered signs proclaiming their farm of origin, her photographs send a subtle message to support local farmers and businesses. "Shapes. Textures. Colors. Smells. Fruit is art you can eat!" she marvels in an afterword. Ah, would that readers could pluck Sayre's art right off the page and savor its juiciness. Plan a fruit-buying scavenger hunt after reading this one--even picky eaters are sure to be tempted. (Nonfiction picture book. 3-7)
