This picture book begins by describing an experiment done by Holly Evans on May 11, 1999. In this experiment Holly wants to see the effects of extraterrestrial conditions on vegetable; so she launches vegetable seeds into the sky using helium filled balloons. All is well until June 29, 1999. Gigantic vegetables are spotted throughout the United States. Broccoli has landed in Holly’s backyard, peppers remain suspended in the sky, and people are carving faces into the giant potatoes. If that’s not strange enough, Holly never sent Broccoli plants into the sky! Where did the broccoli, eggplant, avocado, and the other vegetables that Holly did not plant come from? At the end of book we realize that the cook on an alien ship accidentally ‘jettisoned’ their vegetables into space that landed here on earth. These huge vegetables were never Holly’s indeed. The last page reveals that the aliens have received the vegetables that were part of Holly’s experiment. They are puzzled for how to turn the ordinary sized vegetables into the gigantic ones that were once part of their food supply. This is a really fun book and the author has many other books similar in which the pictures tell most of the detail. I would do an author study on David Wiesner in my classroom. I would plan for students to do research and make a display on this author to learn more about his artistic talent and love for art.
