The Carrot Seed

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The Carrot Seed is a 1945 children's book by Ruth Krauss. As of 2004, The Carrot Seed has been in print continuously since its first publication in 1945. It was illustrated by Krauss's husband, Crockett Johnson. At 101 words, it was one of the shortest picture book texts when it was published in 1945.

The book opens with the words: "A little boy planted a carrot seed. His mother said, 'I'm afraid it won't come up.' Despite the skepticism of his parents and, particularly, his older brother, he persists and "pulled up the weeds around it every day and sprinkled the ground with water." The book concludes simply "And then, one day, a carrot came up just as the little boy had known it would." However, the singular carrot is so large that it fills the boy's wheelbarrow, and therefore illustrates visual irony.

The Carrot Seed has been regarded as a parable of faith, and the CEO of a Kansas City publicity firm has stated that it is a business motivational tool which "helps in the entrepreneurial spirit sort of way." Much of its charm, however, comes from its credibility as a simple story of something that could actually have happened with the added visual humor of the giant carrot.