Illinois Authors

Grandma Lena believes that something worth doing is worth doing right. So she takes good care of the turnips she plants in her garden. One turnip grows to an enormous size Baby Pearl thinks it s a big potato! It is big enough to feed half the town. And it s so big that Grandma can t pull it out of the ground! Even when Grandpa, Uncle Izzy, Aunt Netty, and the dog help Grandma yank and tug, the big ol turnip doesn t budge. Still, this African-American family, including Baby Pearl, knows how to pull together.

Albert Whitman & Co., Morton Grove, Ill. : 2005.

Grandma Lena grows a turnip so big that it takes her entire family pull it up and half of the town to eat it. Includes a note about cooking "soul food."