cover image A Potato on a Bike

A Potato on a Bike

Elise Gravel. Orca, $10.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4598-2320-4

Gravel’s board book imagines common foods and everyday objects participating in human tasks. In each spread, text on the verso asks an illustrated question, “Down by the Bay” style: “Have you ever seen a carrot taking a bath?” shows the bucktoothed root vegetable soaking in a clawfoot tub. A recurring bright pink phrase on the recto answers: “NO WAY!” Shown in Gravel’s signature art style, “Have you ever seen”s include a shiny singing tomato, a reading sausage propped up against a pillow, a fork driving a bright pink car, a toothbrush flying through the sky with wings, and a swirl of poop wearing spectacles (“Without them, I can’t see a thing,” it says). The simple call and response is made for young readers fond of the absurd, and the list of silly queries all lead up to a concluding “YES WAY!” that highlights the joy of further laughter. Ages up to 2. [em](Oct.) [/em]