Harvey Potter was a very strange fellow indeed. He was a farmer, but he didn't farm like my daddy did. He farmed a genuine, U.S. Government Inspected Balloon Farm. So begins this enchanting original tall tale. Set in the rural south and populated with a truly unforgettable cast of characters--including, if you look very carefully, a rabbit, a Tyrannosaurus rex, a cat, a chicken, a cow, and a pig hidden in each remarkable illustration--this is a book that is filled with wonderful impossibilities and magical imagination. Told in the great tradition of summer nights and front porch yarns, Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm will lift your spirit right off the ground, just as it does Harvey Potter. Harvey Potter was a very strange fellow indeed. He was a farmer but not like any farmer you've ever met. He didn't grow corn, okra, or tomatoes. Harvey Potter grew balloons. No one knew exactly how he did it, but with the help of the light of a full moon, one friendly child catches a peek of just how Harvey Potter does it. And keeps some magic for herself. "This is the best sort of fantasy imaginative, inventive, and believable. Harvey Potter is a wonder he's the owner of a genuine U.S. Government Inspected Balloon farm. And Nolen's tale about this man, narrated by the African-American girl who learns balloon-farming magic from him, is equally wondrous.... This title should sail onto every library shelf. May Nolen grow a bumper crop of books." School Library Journal. "Downright glorious." Publishers Weekly (starred review). Kindergarten-Grade 4-This is the best sort of fantasy-imaginative, inventive, and believable. Harvey Potter is a wonder-he's the owner of a genuine U.S. Government Inspected Balloon farm. And Nolen's tale about this man, narrated by the African-American girl who learns balloon-farming magic from him, is equally wondrous. The author's understated, down-home text combines with Buehner's rich, rounded paintings to create a most satisfying whole. Buehner is a master character painter who gives three-dimensional life to the girl, Harvey, and all the wonderful balloons. This title should sail onto every library shelf. May Nolen grow a bumper crop of books. Kathleen Whalin, Greenwich Country Day School, CT Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. Ages 5-8. In this original tall tale, Harvey Potter runs "a genuine, U.S. Government Inspected Balloon Farm." The storyteller is a friendly little neighbor girl with pigtails, whom we see as a grown-up balloon farmer on the book's last page. She's pictured staying up late to learn the secret of Harvey's magic planting process. Nolen's "true truth" style contrasts delightfully with the pictures of Harvey's crop, with balloons in all shapes and colors. The dry narrative humor may not reach all children, but the illustrations won't be forgotten. Hidden somewhere in each one, by the way, is a rabbit, a tyrannosaur, a cat, a chicken, a cow, and a pig. Mary Harris Veeder Harvey Potter owns a genuine US Government Inspected balloon farm where he grows balloons to order: clowns, animals, monsters for Halloween, and even--when the young narrator who has been delightedly watching the crops gets old enough to strike out on her own--a huge floater to carry her off. What's his secret? Since he farms at night, no one knows. Nolen's writing has an oral lilt to it; Buehner (Adventures of Taxi Dog, etc.) depicts Potter's unique crop in jellybean colors, bobbing atop cornstalks in businesslike rows. A wonderfully appealing premise, skillfully developed. (Picture book. 6-8) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. "Downright Glorious."--" Publisher's Weekly""The best sort of fantasy--imaginative, inventive, and believable."--" School Library Journal" Harvey Potter was a very strange fellow indeed. He was a farmer, but he didn't farm like my daddy did. He farmed a genuine, U.S. Government Inspected Balloon Farm. So begins this enchanting original tall tale. Set in the rural south and populated with a truly unforgettable cast of characters--including, if you look very carefully, a rabbit, a Tyrannosaurus rex, a cat, a chicken, a cow, and a pig hidden in each remarkable illustration--this is a book that is filled with wonderful impossibilities and magical imagination. Told in the great tradition of summer nights and front porch yarns, Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm will lift your spirit right off the ground, just as it does Harvey Potter. Harvey Potter was a very strange fellow indeed. He was a farmer but not like any farmer you've ever met. He didn't grow corn, okra, or tomatoes. Harvey Potter grew balloons. No one knew exactly how he did it, but with the help of the light of a full moon, one friendly child catches a peek of just how Harvey Potter does it. And keeps some magic for herself. "This is the best sort of fantasy imaginative, inventive, and believable. Harvey Potter is a wonder he's the owner of a genuine U.S. Government Inspected Balloon f