Four Funny Potatoes! (Hilarious Rhyming, Picture Book for Kids Ages 3-7)

Benny the Banana is NOT a potato, but that doesn't matter to the other fruits and veggies. The other potatoes insist that Benny is a potato and that he needs to get his lines right for their performance. Benny decides to point out the difference between potatoes and bananas while showing that they can still be friends.

Four Funny Potatoes by Len Foley is a rhyming book for young readers, but it is just as fun for adults. Because I have already read another book by Foley, I knew not to expect a moral or too much of a plot. This book focuses on rhyming and enjoying the words instead of teaching a specific lesson. After the first couple of pages with Benny denying that he is a potato, I expected the rest of the story to be the characters ignoring his protests. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised that Benny stood up for himself and explained the differences between potatoes and bananas. It may seem absurd, but that is the point of the book.

This book reminds me of Jon Klassen's books about hats, especially with the surprise ending. I certainly was not anticipating the end of this book, and the slightly morbid nature of it is something that I would have enjoyed as a child. It also has a hint of The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister because some literary analyses hint at the fate of the Rainbow Fish. Luckily this book is far more lighthearted than those interpretations, and the characters are immediately likable. The sentences are simple and filled with adjectives to allow readers to expand their vocabulary without necessarily realizing it.

I have nothing negative to say about this book except that I was unable to deliver it to my Kindle PaperWhite or open it on my Kindle app for Windows 8. There is one plot hole that stands out—the show performed by these foods is done at night, yet the eggs are cracked open and do their part from the frying pan. As an adult, I question how sanitary this kitchen is, but I realize that the target audience would not notice or care which means I am not counting that against the rating.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. There are no grammatical errors (or at least not any that interfere with the flow of the words), and the illustrations are simple yet creative. I recommend this book for parents who enjoy reading nonsense books with their young children and fans of Jon Klassen.