One Potato Review

Yes, Roz Chast. As prolific as she is, and as eminent (a New Yorker doesn’t arrive anymore that doesn’t include at least two of her comics), you wish she’d collaborate on a bunch more of these books. Because such is her gift (and it is unique, with Gary Larson of The Far Side) that a lot of sensitive eight-year-olds can probably get to the heart of her characters’ jaggedy eruptions, and stormy discontents. Here it’s a girl, exiled to her room for calling her brother a dumbbell at his birthday party. Martin and Marx describe her determined to never come out again, and Chast imagines a gray-bunned old lady (“ME - AGE 40”), a very long leash, a series of nefarious tunnels, and many, many other prickly delights. In tone, this is similar to a lot of Kevin Henkes’s work, but you get the feeling - maybe hopeful - that each of these artists has a great deal more to contribute to this genre.