June 29, 1999

This is one of David Wiesner (3-time Caldecott Award winner)'s older stories, which contains many of his signature touches: surreal floating items in otherwise realistic settings, clever and beautiful visuals, exquisitely rendered detail, and a delightfully whimsical story. In June 29, 1999, a girl sends vegetable seedlings into the upper atmosphere as a science project. Soon giant vegetables fall to earth ("Cucumbers circle Kalamazoo. Lima beans loom over Levittown."), each page crazier and funnier than the last. The twist at the end is that these are not her vegetables, somehow transformed in space, but instead are the accidental kitchen scrapings of a clumsy alien cephalopod.

The real reason I love it, though, is my 6 and a half year show more old's reaction to it. She read it to herself as I was driving and giggled her way through the story. Her review: "I loved it! The vegetables had such great adventures!" show less

Holly Evans has the bright idea to send off plant seedlings into the sky by attaching them to Acme balloons for her science project. About a month later, on June 29, 1999, gigantic vegetables start floating down to earth, landing all over America: "Cucumbers circle Kalamazoo. Lima beans loom over Levittown. Artichokes advance on Anchorage. Parsnips pass by Providence." These strange events are widely reported in the media, but Holly is astounded when watching the TV coverage, she sees that "Cauliflower carpets California, spinach blankets Greenwich, and Arugula covers Ashtabula" because the strange thing is, Holly didn't include Arugula in her experiment. Another fantastic Wiesner project which to my mind is as great as Flotsam. Why it show more didn't get a Caldecott is the real mystery here. show less

Red peppers. I always knew they were the flightiest of vegetables. And this book proves it. When giant vegetables mysteriously float down to Earth's surface, one little girl wonders if her science project has gone astonishingly awry.
Hilarious artwork, and an entirely convincing broccoli tree house. Like the author's other books.the wonderfully realistic style of he art contrasts so well with the hilarious oddness of the subject.

Going a step further from his book, TUESDAY, this is an amazing homage to vegetables and science experiments. Weisner's bright and intriguing watercolors bring startling images in gorgeous settings, and an amusing story with an imaginative twist.

In 1999, a young girl sends some vegetable seedlings up in the air for a school science experiment. Soon giant vegetables start falling from the sky all across the world.

This whimsical book was set in the near-future from its publication date, giving it a science fiction feel. My initial reaction to seeing the title was that it would feel dated, but it really isn't. The illustrations are well done, complementing the text. This is a good read for when you want to share something that is simply light and fun.

I had mixed feelings after reading this book. I liked the book because I thought it was fun and interesting. For example, the writing was entertaining and descriptive, without giving the plot twist away. I thought the plot was realistic, as in I could easily see a student thinking up a similar idea for a science fair. I thought the illustrations were beautiful, and did a fantastic job at providing a visual for the words on the page. However, I did not like this book because the ending was incredibly strange and “out there.” The addition of aliens (who were to blame, all along, for the giant floating vegetables, and who, in turn, received the normal-sized vegetables attached to balloons) was completely out of left field, and felt show more almost like a cop out. I can imagine a child getting very confused at the resolution of the story, and although it was funny, it was weird, overall. Additionally, the book did not really have a message, aside from encouraging its readers to come up with innovative and inventive ideas for the science fair. show less

June 29, 1999 is a story book that I came across because my youngest son happens to have been born on June 29th. This review doesn't really contain any spoilers since I won't reveal the ending. It's the funniest part.

The illustrations in this book are the biggest part of the story. There are large colorful pictures on every page, filled with details, including many subtly comical ones. Many of the illustrations are double page spreads.

The text is short and breezy and also filled with humor and silly word play.

The story begins when young Holly Evans of Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey comes up with an unusual project for her school's Science Fair. She devises an experiment where she sends a number of crates of vegetable seedlings up into the show more ionosphere to study the effects of extra-terrestrial conditions on vegetable growth and development.

Holly rigs up several flat corrugated boxes with some bent coat-hangers and a primitive watering system, several cups filled with soil and seeds, and one large balloon each to send them aloft. The raised eyebrows on her teacher and the barely suppressed laughter on the faces of her classmates tell us that Holly's experiment might be a bit far-fetched. Never-the-less the indomitable Holly launches her veggie seeds on May 18th.

On June 29, 1999 something astounding begins to happen all across the United States! Turnips bigger than cement mixers appear in the skies around Billings, Montana. That's not all though. Clouds of Brussels sprouts float placidly above a rural diner in the Midwest. "Cucumbers circle Kalamazoo. Lima beans loom over Levittown. Artichokes advance on Anchorage. Parsnips pass by Providence."

David Wiesner's fantasy visions of these gargantuan vegetables are gloriously, hilariously realistic looking. We can just feel Holly's sense of wonder as she and her dad stand among the tree branches of a stalk of broccoli that has landed in her backyard.

When one of the giant cabbages lands in a normal cabbage patch of a farmer in Iowa, he jumps for joy, exclaiming, "At last, the blue ribbon at the state fair is mine!" The faces of the local rabbits are a study in ecstasy as twenty or so of them bound toward the cabbage patch with glee.

My favorite illustration is a scene out in Monument Valley where two Indian men are tending their sheep who are grazing in a field covered with enormous string beans. The men look so stoic and the sheep's faces are just priceless as they crane their necks skyward to contemplate other string beans as they float in for a landing. Weisner manages to capture just what sheep-like amazement would look like. You'll die.

As news reports continue to pour in from around the nation, Holly begins to realize that some of the vegetables like eggplant, avocado, and arugula are types that she did not include in her experiment. In her tree house high atop a broccoli spear she ponders deeply and asks the important questions, "What happened to my vegetables and whose broccoli is in my backyard?"

I promise you there is a very good answer to each of Holly's questions but you'll have to read this charming book it you want to know what they are.

The paperback edition has 32 pages so it is a quick read and a good length for a bedtime story. The publishers say that it is intended for the 4-8 year old age group but I disagree. I think the 4-6 year olds will like the fantastic pictures...who wouldn't? I think the tongue-in-cheek humor will go over their heads. 8-10 year olds will love it both for the text and the illustrations. I think older kids can appreciate this great picture book, too. It's short, it's sweet, it's funny and it definitely keeps you turning the pages.

Don't miss other great books by David Weisner like Tuesday or Free Fall or Hurricane. show less