ALA Booklist

Reality and fantasy humorously collide in Wiesner's newest picture book, which, like Tuesday , has us looking skyward for unusual flying objects. But this time, Wiesner supplies a narrative that leaves a little less to the imagination. Intending to study the effect of extraterrestrial conditions on vegetable growth, budding botanist Holly Evans attaches small container gardens to orange balloons and launches the weird contraptions into the heavens on May 11, 1999. The results exceed her wildest dreams: on June 29, giant vegetables float to earth--cucumbers circle Kalamazoo; parsnips pass by Providence. Obviously, there's something amiss. But what? Wiesner relies on understatement in the illustrations to convey most of the humor. Generous enough in size to make the book good for use with small groups, his watercolors spread luxuriously across pages, using marvelous aerial perspectives and close-ups to evoke a 1999 classroom and community remarkably like today's. The laugh-out-loud surprise comes at the close, when tentacled aliens bemoan the vegetarian feast they've accidentally jettisoned to earth. The final joke is a little obscure, and Wiesner's dry wit and calculated pictorial references (to the tabloid Star and to Ronco, a name probably known only to kitchen gadget lovers) will be lost on lots of kids. But what child can resist so bizarre a notion as waking up to find broccoli in the backyard and space aliens in the sky, especially when the images are delivered with such glee and in such glorious photographic detail. (Reviewed Oct. 15, 1992)

Horn Book

On May 11, 1999, Holly Evans sends vegetable seedlings into the sky as part of a science experiment. By the end of June, gigantic vegetables are spotted in the sky. Playful, alliterative language catalogs the sightings; the understated text is a perfect foil for the outrageous scenes of vegetables run amok. Fans of Wiesner's offbeat sense of humor will be delighted.

Kirkus Reviews

A follow-up to Tuesday (Caldecott, 1992): this time it's flocks of gigantic vegetables wafting through the air, landing all over the US—turnips larger than trees in the Rockies, plane- sized artichokes in Anchorage, limas in Levittown. At first it seems to be the result of young Holly Evans's experiment—she launched seedlings (by balloon) ``to study the effects of extraterrestrial conditions on vegetable growth''—but species are landing that she never sent up. The answer to the mystery makes an amusing conclusion; meanwhile, Wiesner has a lot of fun with details—imagine climbing a giant stalk of broccoli or roping down buoyant bell peppers, to say nothing of marketing these elephantine comestibles—and even more fun with the surreal visual effects. One of the best is some hilariously puzzled, slightly jaded sheep and a couple of Native American farmers investigating the canoe-sized pea-pods that have landed in what might be Monument Valley. The brief tongue-in-cheek text is a plus for story time, but these witty, wonderfully imaginative pictures reward closer study, too. Hurray for Wiesner, and his grand sense of humor! (Picture book. 5+)"

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

PW's boxed review found this quirky picture book from the Caldecott Medalist ``spectacular to look at, great fun to read [and] executed with consumate skill.'' Ages 5-up. (Sept.)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-- As in the mysterious goings-on of that particular Tuesday (Clarion, 1991) not long ago, Wiesner again takes off on a flight of fantasy, this time set in the not-too-distant future. This sci-fi adventure begins with Holly Evans, a visionary third grader who launches some seedlings into the ionosphere as part of a science experiment. And so the fun begins. Cabbages fill the sky in one part of the country, turnips in another. Lima beans loom over Levittown.''Parsnips pass by Providence.'' Yankee ingenuity reigns supreme as the mammoth veggies are put to some rather creative uses. Of course, there's an extraterrestial twist to this healthful tale and the true fate of Holly's project is at last revealed. The exquisite watercolors are truly out of this world. The three-quarter page paintings utilize unusual perspective and are filled with clever detail. The photorealistic quality of the figures and background vistas only underscores the absurdity of the gigantic airborne produce and accentuates the deadpan humor. By all accounts, June 29, 1999 is a date to remember. --Luann Toth, School Library Journal