Written by Paige V. Polinsky
Published in 2017
Why we chose this book:
T's love of "Potato Man" began en route to Thailand in 2016 when he received a plush Mr. Potato Head from the flight crew. His affection for the stuffed potato transferred to the plastic ones at his playgroup, and seeing that Mr. Potato Head was a character in the Toy Story books we read compounded his enjoyment. Before my father visited us recently, he unearthed my old Potato Head family, and now T creates his own Potato Men. Last week, we visited the STEM exhibition at our library; books about inventors, including this one, were displayed. T was ready to read it right in front of the bookshelf!
Mom and Son's Review
(son age 3 years)
This was an imperfect fit for us. Although T asked to read it several times, "read" it to himself, and didn't want to return it to the library, the content seems to have been above his head. Each two-page spread is a chapter on the life of George Lerner or Mr. Potato Head; one page is almost fully text and one page is a photograph. The pages that did not show the toy did not seem to hold T's interest, but if I stopped reading as he moved away, he asked me to keep reading.
T and I had fun assembling our Potato Head family and lining them up before we read the book the second time. We proceeded to read a chapter to them and then make them talk with us, using T's toy microphone. T started each conversation by shouting, "Potato Man, can you hear me?" Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head asked T what he learned about them or if he had questions.
T talked to the Potato Head family about two items primarily: costumes and pipes. The final chapter is about different costumes that Mr. Potato Head can wear, such as Iron Man. T liked talking to our potatoes about the options they could choose from. Earlier in the day, I had commented to T that I found it interesting that pipes are no longer included with the toy. He asked Mr. Potato Head about that several times, wanting to know whey the new ones have no pipes. They were omitted after 1987 so as not to encourage kids to smoke. We have one green pipe for Mr. Potato Head, and I definitely remember pretending to smoke it as a kid.
For a parent who is now playing with Mr. Potato Head for the second time, it is an interesting read. By the time a child could read this book independently, he or she has likely moved on from playing with Mr. Potato Head. For a toddler, there were too many names and dates and higher-level vocabulary. If T is still interested in Mr. Potato Head in kindergarten/first grade, we could probably revisit this book with greater success.
The top picture has all of my original pieces. Can you find the pipe?
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