Luck With Potatoes

by Helen Ketteman, Brian Floca (Illustrator)

Hardscrabble Tennessee farmer Clemmon Hardigree's hard-luck changes when he plants seed potatoes in Cow Hollow before his fat mountain cows cause the pasture to collapse

Genres: Picture Books, Humor, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1995

About the author

author and mother of two grown sons. Texas, where she lived for 9 years, is one of her favorite places and several of her books are set there. She, her husband, and their two cats currently live in Sanibel Island, Florida--where plenty of armadillos live, too.

Reviews

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly fresh and whimsical with terrific illustrations. Love the bit about the mountain cows rolling down the mountain in balls when they've completed their grazing. Also love the haunted hollow and the haunted crop of potatoes. Fav quote: "Then one spring Clemon's plow broke, and his old mule, Samantha, lay down and died of happiness."

[Mrs. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A longer tall tale.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a farmer named Clemmon and how potatoes, mountain cows, and a bit of luck saved his farm. Clemmon used to have bad luck you see, well before the potatoes. Rockslides and flashfloods would wreak havoc on his crops. The universe would break his plow, and his old mule just lied down and died! (of happiness). He got some mountain cows, but soon enough they got too big and the pasture they grazed in caved in! After that the cows were not seen again for a while. All of that changed when in a last ditch effort to save his farm, Clemmon invested the last of his money into potato seeds. After that, Clemmons luck really started to pick up. His potatoes grew big and fast, his cows came back, and he even helped out a lot of different people with the power of potatoes! Overall this was and is a rocking book about the power of potatoes and never giving up.

[Jen]

(1995) Clemmon Hardigree was a bad luck farmer, doing the best he could to get by in the hills of Tennessee. His recent attempt at raising mountain cattle ended when his hillside collapsed and the down-and-out farmer uses what little money he has left over to buy potato seeds. The potatoes grow to be huge--so big that only one potato fits in the back of his truck. One of these giant potatoes rolls off of his land and surprisingly makes him a fortune.

[Sara B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about a farmer who is having a hard time until he plants potatoes. The potates make strange noises and he wonders if his potatoes are haunted. The cows return and the farmer's luck begins to change for the better. This is a little tougher book for children to read and quite amuzing.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clemmon Hardigree grew potatoes so big that cows popped out of them. His hard luck had changed when he grew those potatoes from seeds...now everywhere he goes, he famous for his giant potatoes.

Used for "It's Green and Leafy: Not Trees...Vegetables" storytime-April, 2010.

[Shanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seriously, any book that has a cow bursting from a potatoe like that scene from Aliens...not really my cup of tea.

[Sarah Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very original and super cute!

[Annie Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute and fun illustrations!

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather original story with some engaging illustrations to go with it.