The Carrot Seed; story by Ruth Krauss, pictures by Crockett Johnson (1945)

The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss, with pictures by Crockett Johnson, is about faith, faith in the face of all evidence and faith when no one but you believes in what you’re doing. It’s about planting a seed, watering it, tending the soil, and waiting, with faith. All this, in just under a hundred words. The Carrot Seed is for kids of all ages—my husband likes to give it to people as a graduation present, and to babies. You could give it to a gardener, too.

Crockett Johnson draws amazingly nuanced expressions on his fairly bubble-headed characters. Folks are probably most familiar with him from the deeply philosophical Harold and the Purple Crayon books, which he wrote and illustrated. (Wow, when I wrote that last line I hadn’t even seen this.) Anyone who comes up with a hungry moose and a deserving porcupine is a friend of mine. But my favorites, maybe, are Barnaby and Barnaby and Mr. O’Malley, about Barnaby and his cigar-chomping, cursing Irish fairy godfather. They struck me as pleasantly subversive when I was a kid, and still do. Cushlamochree!

Tagged as: books for boys, books for girls, books for little kids, great gift books, grow things