Roslyn Rutabaga and the Biggest Hole on Earth!

Roslyn's ambitious plan to dig the Biggest Hole on Earth in her backyard turns out to involve negotiations with a worm, mole, and dog, all of whom protest as she shovels ("This is my front yard!" yells the worm. "You can't dig your big old hole here, you silly rabbit!"). She persists, however, and when her father emerges at lunchtime, her hole can accommodate both of them. Roslyn has hoped to dig deep enough to hit the South Pole, and when she wonders if penguins like carrot sandwiches, her father says gently, "As soon as we see one, we'll ask." Against a sea of white space, Roslyn's world is built on islands of torn, textural paper, which Gay (the Stella series) paints with a mixture of different media and fills with many small trinkets—paper airplanes, dog bones, odd socks—flying carelessly off them. Roslyn and her father are chubby white bunnies; her father wears spectacles and striped pants. It's an understated story about what happens when you bite off more than you can chew, and a touching portrait of a quietly supportive parent. Ages 2-5. (Aug.) Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

PreS-Gr 1--Roslyn Rutabaga wakes up one day with an exuberant plan: "I will dig the biggest hole on earth. Not a tiny mouse hole. Not a medium-sized rabbit hole. The Biggest Hole on Earth!" With her father's encouragement, the young rabbit sets out to achieve her goal. However, she runs into some obstacles, including meeting a grumpy worm when she digs in his front yard, a grouchy mole as she digs in his bedroom, and an unhappy dog as she digs up his bone. Just when all this digging tires Roslyn out, her father joins her in the hole, and they share a picnic lunch. The whimsical illustrations, created on Kraft paper and handmade Japanese paper with watercolor, acrylic, pastels, aquarelle crayons, pencil, and collage, are busy without being overdone. Imaginative and adventurous children will identify with Roslyn in this simple, fun story.--Sarah Polace, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, OH

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.