1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
DePaola, Tomie. 1992. JAMIE O’ROURKE AND THE BIG POTATO: AN IRISH FOLKTALE. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. ISBN 9780399222573

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Jamie O’Rourke was perhaps the laziest man in Ireland. He didn’t like to work. He avoided work like the plague. He especially disliked work involving digging up potatoes. Jamie would make excuses to avoid work. “Me back’s as sore as can be. . .I’ll break in two if I so much as get up out of this bed.” Jamie’s wife Eileen would do all the chores.
One day Eileen hurt her back and was on bed rest. She could not work. While Eileen was out of commission, Jamie began to worry about his future. He said, “No Eileen to dig meant no praties all winter, and no praties meant no food.” Jamie decided to see Father O’Mallery at the church to confess and ask for help. On his way to church, he saw a leprechaun singing and working. Jamie grabbed the leprechaun and asked for his gold. The leprechaun said he was just starting out in his shoe profession and only had a few pieces of gold in his pot. He said he would give Jamie a wish instead of gold. Jamie agreed and wished for the biggest potato in the world. The leprechaun gave Jamie a potato seed. When Jamie arrived home, he told Eileen about their good fortune. She became angry and told him he was not only lazy, but an idiot. He should have asked for a pot of gold. Jamie planted the potato seed and after some time had passed, the potato seed grew into an enormous potato. Jamie tried everything he could to dig the huge potato out of the garden. Jamie decided to ask the villagers for help. They helped and he offered each villager a portion of the potatoes. The villagers ate potatoes all winter long and grew sick and tired of potatoes. In the end, all the villagers agreed to give Jamie and his wife food for the rest of their lives, if Jamie would promise not to plant another magical potato seed.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
All ages will delight in the lighthearted tone of the text and the colorful illustrations. Ages four to eight will find this to be one of their favorite classics read aloud. My students found this book very enjoyable. They were shocked at how Jamie would get out of working in the potato garden. One student said that Jamie reminded him of his lazy brother Justin. He compared himself to Eileen and his brother Justin to Jamie. My student said that Jamie was not being fair to Eileen. Just like his brother wasn't being fair to him. My other students identified with poor hard working Eileen too and thought that Jamie should be punished. This book was a real success with my students.

The illustrations capture a rural life of sheep, stonewalls and beautiful green hillsides. The thatched roof cottages give a feel of old world charm. The illustrations are amusing and clearly capture the life of the town’s people on the Emerald Isle. The illustrations are precise and stimulating and reflect detail with lively watercolor and vibrant orange borders.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Kirkus Reviews: It makes a cheery picture book, with the artist using the lighter, brighter side of his palette and including some affectionate caricatures of the Irish in his decorative illustrations. Attractive and amusing.”
Publisher’s Weekly: “DePaola’s distinctive homespun style and genial gentry round, child like faces add plenty of zip to this silly story.”
Booklist: “Illustrated in DePaola’s signature style, this has an inviting look. . .An engaging read-aloud choice for Saint Patrick’s Day.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*After reading this folktale with students, using a globe, show children the location of Ireland. Research Ireland as a geography project with students. Allow students to write a story about what they learned about Ireland.
*Have students write and draw their favorite part of the story. Display their work on the bulletin board.
*Allow students to have a potato taste test. Provide hash browns, potato wedges, baked potatoes, etc. for the children to samples.
*Another related book by Tomie DePaola and the sequel to JAMIE O’ROURKE AND THE BIG POTATO:
DePaola, Tomie. JAMIE O’ROURKE AND THE POOKA.
ISBN 9780698116030