Where There's A Will, There's a Way! Farmer Falgu Goes to the Market by Chitra Soundar

It was market day.

Farmer Falgu loaded his cart.

Falgu sets off to market, his oxcart loaded carefully with baskets of tomatoes, onions, chilies, cilantro, white eggs, brown eggs, and a few duck eggs as well.

All is well as the two oxen set off at a brisk trot down the road, until the cart wheel hits some big potholes!

BUMP!

Now all is not well.

The white eggs are CRACKED!

Farmer Falgu is sad. But the rest of his cargo is sound, so he sets off to market again! But...

WHOA!

A mother duck and her ducklings dart across the road and Farmer Falgu's cart stops abruptly. But the baskets of tender chilis and cilantro are crushed under cascading onions. Still, Falgu has brown eggs and duck eggs and tomatoes left to sell, so he slaps the reins and his oxen set off once more.

Farmer Falgu is almost to the marketplace when a speeding truck forces his oxen to veer suddenly, and the rest of his cargo is squashed, cracked, or crushed! Now he has nothing to sell at the market!

Or does he?

Farmer Falgu knows just what to do. To make an omelet, you have to first break some eggs, and Falgu is already ahead in that game. He sets up a brazier in the middle of the marketplace, chops up his vegetables and herbs, and makes something absolutely scrumptious for all the hungry people there.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and Chitra Soundra make good use of what's left in her Farmer Falgu Goes to the Market (Farmer Falgu Series) (Karadi Tales, 2018). This colorful tale is a lively modern fable in the mode of Aesop himself, great for giving kids a valuable little lesson in handling disappointments and mishaps and and with a bit of imagination and serendipity, making the best of what they've got. Artist Kanika Nair's illustrations, done up in strong blackline and glowing colors, are a delightful example of visual storytelling in themselves.

For a great folktale with a similar theme share this one with Phoebe Gilson's Something from Nothing or Sims Taback's Caldecott-winning version, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (Caldecott Honor Book)

To Market, To Market! Clark The Shark Lost And Found by Bruce Hale

"Today is our field trip to the Farmers' Market," announced Mrs. Inkydink to the class.

"WOOHOO!" shouted Clark the Shark. "I've never seen a farmers' market!"

It's field trip time, and all the ebullient Clark can think about is the fun he's going to have with his friend Joey Mackerel.

Mrs. Inkydink, on the other hand, knows all the things that can go wrong on a field trip with her class of little golliwogs, so she launches into her Rules for A Field Trip lecture.

1. Hold hands with your partner!
2. Follow all directions!
3. Keep to your inside voices!

Of course, Clark the Shark is not listening. In fact he's busy telling Joey that a field trip means It's Playtime!

Right off the bus, Clark charges forward, with Joey at his tailfin, trying to keep up, as they swim toward the food vendors.

"LOOK at the food! YUM!"

The farmers' market is like a great big theme park to Clark and he dashes into the action, stuffing his toothy face, juggling goodies, dancing his funky shark dance, and swimming too fast for even the loyal Joey to keep up. It's a fine and fishy fun field trip. Until... Clark stops to look around.

Their class was out of sight!

He can't even see Joey! Clark The Shark is lost! Now he wishes he'd been listening to Mrs. Inkydink.

Is Clark the Shark lost at sea? In Bruce Hale's Clark the Shark: Lost and Found (I Can Read Level 1) (Harper, 2016), young readers will giggle at Clark's attempts to dredge his teacher's words out of his easily-distracted brain. Luckily, Mrs. Inkydink is on the job and all's well, with Clark (perhaps) learning his lesson for the day.

Author Hale handles his hyper Clark The Shark well by this point in the series, and perhaps young readers will get the message that there are times when it's really important to pay attention to the instructions. Illustrator Guy Frances adds plenty of underwater humor to the setting, and the two creators even add an appendix to this Level One I-Can-Read title, "Clark The Shark's Bite-Sized Facts" about (what else?) sharks!