Published: 2023
Series: N/A
Author: Chana Stiefel
Illustrator: Anna Süßbauer
Genres: Children’s Literature, Picture Books, Food, Fiction, Humor, Storytime
Audience (Grade Levels): Elementary School Level (Grades K-3)
Number of Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Goodreads Link: Bravo, Avocado!
Triggers / Content Warnings: None (Mild feelings of insecurity/loneliness)
Review By: Megan Powell
Publisher’s Summary:
“An enjoyable story about friendship and positive self-image, this is one to consider for picture book collections.” —School Library Journal
Avocado longs to be Today’s Special in this vibrant, pun-filled picture book by Chana Stiefel and Anna Süßbauer about self-discovery and the value of uplifting your friends. Avocado wants to stand out, but nothing seems to be working. With the help of her friends, she self-reflects and discovers that all along she was special. This social-emotional learning story will help young readers to develop relationship skills and self-awareness. Perfect for fans of Dragons Love Tacos and The Food Group stories.
It’s a delightful day at the Farmer’s Market. Zesty limes! Juicy peaches! Sweet corn! But Avocado has a pit in her stomach. She longs to be Today’s Special. Strolling through the aisles, Avocado asks her farm-fresh friends to help her discover what makes her stand out. Tomato offers to teach her salsa. Pumpkin proposes funny faces. Garlic suggests she add some zing! Nothing seems to work until—Ding ding!—the bright and shiny Toaster inspires Avocado to reflect more deeply. Chana Stiefel’s heartwarming text blends with Anna Süßbauer’s eye-popping illustrations to spark sweet and meaningful conversations about self-discovery and friendship.
Review:
This book is very positive and up lifting. The illustrations are cute and inviting making it easier for the students to follow along. This book is about an avocado who feels like he does not have many friends and that he is being looked over. The avocado leaves his space where he is comfortable (his stand) to venture off to find some friends, along the way he met different fruits, sauces and a toaster who become his friends. These friends were up lifting and gave a lot of encouragement, dressing him up and making him feel good about himself. Giving him the idea that really avocado goes with everything no matter what. It is all a choice on how you feel. When he returned back to his stand instead of just “avocado special” he wrote “Today’s special: Healthy, courageous, big hearted avocado with lots of character goes with everything…” He was choosing to feel good about himself after the encouragement from his friends. After feeling good about himself, he brought his pen over to the broccoli stand and wrote, “Broccoli on sale Brocc ‘n’ roll be-leaf in yourself!” He’s projecting his good feelings out to everyone else and this is important. I would highly recommend this book to any classroom in the grades ranging from k-3. Older elementary levels may not relate to the illustrations. Overall, I really enjoyed this read- I know that this is a book where students will easily get interested from the beginning. The positivity and friendship message is super clear and important throughout this text.
Classroom & Curricular Connections:
- ELA (English Language Arts): A fantastic mentor text for teaching wordplay, idioms, and food puns (e.g., having a “pit” in your stomach, learning “salsa”). It is also excellent for introducing early character development and identifying the central message of a story.
- Social Studies / Community Civics: Can be utilized to introduce children to the concept of local community spaces like a Farmer’s Market, examining how different individuals (or foods) come together to form a rich, cooperative neighborhood.
- SEL (Social-Emotional Learning): Connects directly to relationship skills, self-awareness, building a positive self-image, and developing genuine empathy by choosing to encourage others.
- Extension Activity / Library Application: Perfect for an interactive classroom or school library activity. After a group read-aloud, host a “Design Your Own Market Stand” workshop. Provide students with drawing templates of different fruits or vegetables. Have them write their own positive, encouraging puns on a “Today’s Special” sign to display on a collaborative library bulletin board.
- Diversity & Representation: The book models inclusion and supportive community structures in a meaningful way for young children. By showcasing how an eclectic group of entirely different foods—from tomatoes to a piece of kitchen technology like a toaster—can come together to validate, support, and celebrate individual differences, it teaches children to embrace and uplift the diverse identities within their own classrooms.
