Erika Bock - The little potato gang on the way to their dreams

The Little Potato Gang

… on the way to their dreams

Under guidance of potato girl Molli, six little potato kids run away from Farmer Billy's barn in order to find their dreams. They run into a mole called Volli who has never had friends before.

The potato kids decide to take Volli along on their trip. As a mole, he is particularly able to smell and hence his job is to smell all the different odours and scents on behalf of the potato kids. In return, the potatoes will tell the almost blind mole Volli what they can see on their trip. United they stand!

Author: Erika Bock

Translation: Declan Donaghey and Melanie Böke

Illustrations: Volker Nökel

www.volker-noekel.de

Typesetting and Layout: Miri Zymny

www.tingmarke.de

©2014 Erika Bock

Stakenteich 9, D-24257 Köhn

eb.@tingmarke.de

All rights reserved

ISBN

In Farmer Billy's barn

A little mole with no friends

Christa's dream

A carrot for the way

A green chap with a crown

Molly's dream

A professor collects comprehensive knowledge

Sieglinde's dream

Who's so busily darting to and fro?

Danger from the air

A fighter on the chicken yard

A trail on the way

Desiree's dream

Blue Swede's dream

Red Emmalie's dream

Another fine day draws to a close on the farm. Organic farmer Billy takes one last look around the big barn. There are crates and crates filled and almost bursting with yummy scrummy potatoes! Farmer Billy feels proud of his hard work. He really likes growing potatoes. But he doesn’t just plant and tend to them, he also likes breeding new kinds of potato. It’s not only great fun it’s very interesting too!

„Now my work is done for the day. I think I’ll have a quick peek at what my Rosy has cooked for tea. I’m so hungry!” says Farmer Billy aloud to himself. Billy switches off the barn light and makes his way over to the farmhouse. On the way, he chuckles to himself for speaking loudly even though there is no one else there in the empty barn. Or is there?

As soon as it gets dark in the barn something begins to move and fidget and wriggle … in the crates of potatoes! If you listen carefully with your mind’s ear you might even hear them giggling, joking and even teasing one another! With a huge sigh Molly, a potato, climbs up onto the edge of the potato crate and sits down. She shakes the dust from her hair and announces loudly:

„Ohhh. Every night, I have the same delightful dream. I dream of a blossoming potato field. Potatoes grow beneath the ground and down there we never get to see our own flowers. I would love to see what they really look like. If only just the once.” Molly sighs and then stops staring into the distance and turns and looks around at the others. “Do any of you dream every night?”, she asks.

For a moment, there is silence. Just then another potato pipes up, „I also have the same dream every night. I dream of seeing the sunrise in the early morning. Oh how beautiful that must be! You can hardly see a thing through that little window over there!” She sighs and then blushes and quickly adds, “Oh and by the way my name is Christa.”

One after the other, four more potatoes climb out of their crate and sit themselves on the edge letting their little potato legs hang down. They look like anything but “normal” potatoes.

Molly is surprised at the blue peel of a little potato boy and asks him „You look really blue! Are you cold or did you fall into a tin of paint?”

„No. That’s just the way I look. I’m a Blue Swede! People all look different too. There are people with white skin, people with yellow skin, people with brown skin and even people with almost completely black skin. There are people with blond hair, chestnut hair, black hair and white hair. People have blue eyes … green eyes brown eyes and so on. I think it is really good that we don’t all look the same. That would be very, very boring, don’t you think?

„Exactly!“ Desiree shouts. „Look at me! I have red skin and my blue dress even has white frills on the sleeves. It almost looks like a princess’s gown, doesn’t it?“ What do you think?

„Yeah! And look at me! My skin is bright pink! Don’t you just love that colour!? My name’s Red Emmalie!”

“Wow... and your punk hairstyle is so cool!“ the other four say, eyeing her curiously.

Suddenly, the sound of an angry voice comes from a sixth potato crate:

„Ah now stop showing off, Red Emmalie! We normal potatoes look just as good as you! Our fine skins are available in so many different shades of brown!”

Sieglinde, the owner of the voice, climbs out of the crate and, putting her hands on her hips, she announces defiantly „and as well as that I belong to an old variety and taste absolutely delicious … so there!”

The Blue Swede bends over the potato crate and grabs his baseball cap, puts it back on his little potato head and turns to Molly.

„Molly, you have asked about our dreams before. Well, I dream of seeing the sea. Just the other day an old lady was here in the barn and looking for Farmer Billy. She told him all about her trip to the sea. The sea must be ginormous! She said big waves were hitting the beach!”

„Yes! That’s what I heard too!“ Desiree screeches with delight. “I want to visit the sea too but I’d like my own dream to come true as well. I’d love to climb the sand dunes at the beach!”

„And I dream about climbing up a huge, giant tree“ Sieglinde says getting more and more excited. “A tree so big that it reaches right up to the sky, you know. Then when I climb it, I could maybe touch the clouds! There are always forest workers buying potatoes and telling stories about cutting down huge trees.”

„And what about you, Red Emmalie, what do you dream about? About crazy clothes or pink hair?” the others ask but only just to tease her a little.

“No no !” shouts Red Emmalie excitedly „My whole potato life I have dreamt of seeing the moon and the stars properly. That barn window is too small and I can hardly see any through it. I have no idea how many stars there are. Do any of you know?”

„Thousands, millions, billions ... even trillions!“ say the others together. The little potatoes cannot count all of them. Probably, no one can.

„I have an idea“ shouts Molly. “Why should our dreams stay dreams? I think we should try and make them come true because nothing is impossible!

We just have to want it enough and believe that we can do it, and then it will happen. Who’s with me?”

„Me!“ „...and me! “ ..me too!“ „..don’t forget me!“ „Yeah. I‘m coming!“

Five little potatoes are very happy with their idea.

„The catflap over there is just big enough for us to get through! Let’s use it to get out of the barn! Let’s go gang!” Molly says to the other five potatoes.

And so, one after the other, the five little potatoes climb through the catflap, out of the barn and into Farmer Billy’s orchard.

"Wow! That blows my mind", Red Emmalie cries out. She goes round in circles, tosses and turns in the soft grass.

"Jippeee . …… this can go on forever!" Molly is thrilled.