Edgar Potato

Claudia Cornwall was a Vancouver writer.

This is a story about a very large Prince Edward Island potato called Edgar. He is so large, in fact, that all the other potatoes mock and scorn him. They tell him he will never grace anyone’s table as a baked potato with a sour cream and chive topping. Nor will he ever be made into a plate of French fries. The most he can hope for is to finish as a box of instant potatoes. But fate has a reward in store for this underdog (underpotato?). When Edgar’s farmer notices him one day, he decides to enter him in the exhibition at Old Home Week. And Edgar is proclaimed the largest and best-looking potato on Prince Edward Island.

The story line of Edgar Potato is familiar. However, younger children will probably enjoy this retelling of it even if they find it rather unlikely that someone would relish being eaten. The black-and-white illustrations are amusing and charming. The book has also been issued in French under the title, Edgar La Patate.