A perfectly rotund farmer sings the praises of his latest lemon crop: """"There's nothing like lemons./ This fruit isn't mellow./ They're tangy!/ They're tasty!/ They're tart—/ and soooooo/ yellow!"""" In these pages, Saake's (Hello, Robots ) retro-style graphics exude giddy happiness: Farmer McPhee bounces about his orchard in a state of exhilaration. In his comically manic reveries, he imagines all the delicious things his lemons will be used to make. (""""Lemons for sherbet and lemons for pie!/ Lemons for drinks on the Fourth of July!"""") Children should get a kick out of seeing how Saake manipulates simple shapes into cool, cartoon-like images. But the story takes a darker turn when McPhee spies something shocking in one of his trees: a single red lemon. """"I can't have red lemons/ where yellow fruit grows!"""" fumes McPhee, as Staake covers the scene with a wash of smoldering red. He hurls the red fruit into the ocean, where it lands on a deserted island, germinates and, after a few centuries (the passage of time is symbolized by a vaguely disturbing, post-apocalyptic-looking view of the orchard), the produce from the red lemon orchard becomes a sought-after gastronomic treat. One man's lemon is another's lemonade? The moral may pass over youngsters' heads, but the pictures will keep them enthralled. Ages 4-8.(Sept.)

Wildly colorful pages filled with geometrically shaped figures tell the tale of Farmer McPhee and his lemon orchards. The rhyming story begins conventionally, with an ode to tart, yellow lemons and their many delicious uses. One day Farmer McPhee, as round as his trees, is shocked to spy a red lemon. Imagining terrible havoc created by a differently colored lemon, McPhee quickly throws it over to an island. Two hundred years pass. The farmer's land is gray, sere and empty. Meanwhile, the island has become a wonderland of red lemons. A quirky city has evolved with an economy based on these fabulously sweet red lemons, attracting people from all over the world. Staake uses a wide color palette with exaggerated shapes and people; his geometric forms are vividly cartoonish and exuberant, yet deceptively simple. Imaginative use of perspective and the multihued, varying sized text add flair. The energetic city is filled with visual and verbal humor, and the important message is subtly conveyed. Pair with some lemonade and perhaps a muffin, and enjoy the depth of meaning behind this computer-enhanced visual feast. (Picture book. 4-9)

PreS-Gr 1-Farmer McPhee delights in his grove of lemon trees. Each perfect lemon is tasty, tart, and, most importantly, yellow. His pride fairly bursts off the page, as does his outrage when he discovers a red lemon on one of his trees. He cannot imagine a world in which lemonade is red and cupcakes are crimson. In a fit of anger, he hurls the offending fruit across the sea to a distant island. Two hundred years pass and McPhee's prized lemon tree groves are replaced by weeds. But on the island, a vibrant city has grown up around a grove of red lemon trees. As it turns out, these lemons are six times sweeter than yellow ones, and now people travel across oceans and seas to get them. Bold, enticing illustrations dominate the pages. Staake creates a fun, dynamic world reminiscent of Dr. Seuss's in its sweeping arcs, bright colors, multicolored cartoon people, and effortlessly rhyming text. The circles used to create Farmer McPhee and his trees give the book a polished, graphic-arts feel. Pair this tangy tale with Laura Vaccaro Seeger's Lemons Are Not Red (Roaring Brook, 2004) for a refreshing storytime combination.-Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.