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by Zhou Xu (Author), Zhou Xu (Illustrator)
The old man pulls up, up, up, and the mice pull down, down, down. But who will pull the enormous radish from the ground? From author and illustrator Zhou Xu, Pulling the Radish explores both ends of a tug of war for the radishes in a family's garden. This humorous tale tells both sides of the story - from the point of view of the old farmer and his family, and from the mice underground hungry for some food! Zhou Xu was inspired by Aleksey Tolstoy's version of The Gigantic Turnip to find a new ending from a different point of view. From Author Zhou Xu: My grandma read The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksey Tolstoy to me when I was a child. Afterward, I wanted to find a GIGANTIC turnip for myself. But we didn't have turnips, so instead I roamed my grandpa's radish fields. I spotted the biggest leaves poking out of the dirt. Then, I pulled, pulled, pulled. With a pop, the leafy green top of the radish snapped off. I fell to the ground. I looked to see my prize, but all I had was leaves in my hands. No radish! So, I went to the next bundle of greens and pulled, pulled, pulled. Pop! No radish! I did this many times, but I always ended up empty-handed. I came back to the house with my bottom covered in dirt and my hands sore from pulling. Then Grandma told me the truth-fairy tales are sometimes exaggerated. It would have saved a lot of radishes if she had told me sooner. I began to think . . . what if the characters in the story pulled and pulled but never got the radish? As I grew older, this idea grew too, until I finally wrote this book. I sometimes wonder if Tolstoy read my story, would he be angry, or would he laugh? Reycraft Schoolhouse is a new, carefully curated series of fiction and nonfiction books in paperback created for emerging readers from Pre-K to 5th grade. The key feature of these books is their tight connection to national and state science, social studies, and literacy standards - books that are ideal for classroom use in building knowledge and developing literacy skills while instilling a love for reading. These books contain the well-regarded Reycraft Books look and style, while targeting specific learning goals.
