Diana Pomeroy

Self taught artist Diana Pomeroy, who creates beautiful illustrations using stamps cut from potatoes, presents a lovely counting picture-book in this, her debut title. From the eponymous one potato, to two eggplants, three ears of corn, four pears, and so on, each two-page spread here features some form of vegetable or fruit. After ten, the numbers jump to twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and one hundred. A brief afterword gives more information about the potato-print-making process...

After discovering Pomeroy's unique artwork through her second (and final) title, Wildflower ABC: An Alphabet of Potato Prints, I immediately went looking for this initial work, and I am glad I did. Although I don't find produce quite as beautiful as flowers, the illustrations here are still incredibly lovely. I liked the fact that this counting book went beyond ten, which is unusual in the form, and I also appreciated the afterword, which gives more information about this easy method of print-making. As Pomeroy notes, it is a method particularly suited for child artists, as potatoes are easily come by, compared to other artistic materials, and can easily be replaced, if the stamp-making process is unsuccessful. Recommended to anyone looking for somewhat unusual counting books, or to readers curious about Pomeroy's artwork. For my part, I just wish she had created more books!… (més)

Self-taught artist Diana Pomeroy, whose illustrations are created using a distinctive potato print method, returns to the picture-book form in this follow-up to her debut, One Potato: A Counting Book of Potato Prints. Here the focus is on the alphabet, and on the beautiful wildflowers of North America. Each page contains a letter in the alphabet, represented in both upper and lower cases, and a flower whose name begins with that letter. The alphabetic bouquet begins with asters and ends with Zigadenus fremontii (better known as camas). The book concludes with an afterward giving more information about each of the twenty-six flowers...

I had never heard of Pomeroy, or of Wildflower ABC: An Alphabet of Potato Prints, when I happened to pass it on display at my local library (blessedly now open again!) the other day. I was struck by the gorgeous front cover, and intrigued by the idea of print-making using potatoes (in carved stamp form, I presume?), and immediately picked it up. I'm so glad I did, as I greatly appreciated the beautiful artwork, as well as the more detailed information in the afterword. The former reveals a true eye for beauty, and the latter a love of the natural world. The rear dust-jacket blurb about the creator mentions that Pomeroy worked for many years as a welder in the Seattle shipyards, which is also impressive. If I had to hazard a guess, the vast majority of our children's books are created by comfortably middle or upper-class writers and artists, making this volume from a self-taught working-class woman especially welcome. I'm only sorry that this second book, published back in 1997, appears to have been her last. Recommended to anyone looking for beautiful alphabet books, as well as to those seeking children's books featuring beautiful wildflowers.… (més)