The Littlest Grape Stomper

Alan Madison is a film and television writer and the author of Pecorino's First Concert, which received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, and just published Pecorino Plays Ball. He lives in New York City.

Giselle Potter is the illustrator of many children's books, including the just published The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter, and the ALA Notable Book Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne. She lives in Rosendale, New York.
From the Hardcover edition.

Kindergarten-Grade 2—This story takes place in the village of Ear, which is famous for making scrumptious grape juice. One day, Boss Nova Boombatz, "the big head of all things grape," drafts Sixto Poblano (so named because he has six toes on each foot) to stomp on his fruit, thinking that the boy's extra toes will help him accomplish his task much faster. The other stompers are astonished to see that it only takes him two stomps to squish an entire barrel. The talented Sixto gets bullied by Boss Nova into working day after day, when he would much rather be playing kickball with his friends. Boss Nova agrees to let him go after he completes one more task—to squish a gigantic vat of grapes that takes 40 days for the townspeople to fill. As the village orchestra plays, Sixto dives in and stomps away for seven straight days until, in danger of drowning in all that juice, he kicks out the cork. The boy escapes, surfing a purple tidal wave that sweeps all the town's inhabitants onto a far hill and fills the valley with what becomes known as the Grape Lakes. He goes back to playing with his friends and Boss Nova is never heard from again. The stylized pencil, ink, gouache, gesso, and watercolor artwork is vintage Potter in all its quirky glory. Although Sixto is described as an amiable fellow, the pictures of a purple-stained boy in his skivvies may not be everyone's cup of tea. Many readers may find the American tall tale of Paul Bunyan making the Great Lakes more engaging.—Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT
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