Published: 3 August 2024
Publisher: Cicada Books
Illustrator: Elliot Kruszynski
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
If Creature is not a potato, what could they possibly be? Taxonomy has never been so much fun!
‘I am a potato’, says a small, furry creature. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, ‘ says Dog. ‘Do you grow underground? Do you have lots of eyes? No? Then you’re not a potato.’ ‘Then WHAT AM I?’ wails Creature. Cat comes along. ‘Do you breathe air? Do you eat and poo? Do you move around? You are an animal!’ But what kind of animal is he? As his identity crisis continues, more creatures join the conversation, asking questions and narrowing down the options until they eventually work out what the creature is.
As is always important criteria with picture books this is definitely adorable on the cover and follows through by being adorable on the inside.
The story starts with creature who declares they are a potato before being informed by a variety of other animals that they are not. But no one knows what creature is and so starts the questions and queries about what they could actually be.
I enjoyed the gradual increase of helpers to work out what the creature was, as well as their flawed yet logical reasoning for their suggestions. The logic ranges from not being a potato because they don’t live underground, to maybe be a being a fish because they like to swim sometimes. I liked the innocence of the suggestions but I also loved how frustrated the rabbit became with them. With the glasses on rabbit is clearly pegged as the smart one, but other animals do offer critiques and ideas.
The layout was great with the division down the page and the line-up of increasing animals to weigh in with possible animals. Creature is adorable, all the animals are adorable. I also loved creature’s existential crisis, incredibly cute and a fantastic job by Kruszynski to bring so much emotion and character to these animals.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending, but I get the potato connection. Especially coming from the rabbit whose ongoing bafflement over the situation was delightful.
You can purchase I am a Potato via the following
