pumpkins

Review: Pick a Pumpkin by Patricia Toht

| Tasha

Pick a Pumpkin by Patricia Toht

Pick a Pumpkin by Patricia Toht , illustrated by Jarvis (9781536207644)

This follow up to Pick a Pine Tree invites readers into the autumn bounty of choosing a pumpkin and creating a jack-o-lantern. The book moves quickly through the pumpkin patch with its mix of sweet fall treats and fields of pumpkins. The family then returns home to clean their pumpkins up, find the tools they need, and get set up in the garage. Friends are invited over to carve pumpkins with them. The goopy insides are scooped, faces are chosen and candles are lit inside.

With so many rhyming picture books, Toht’s skill demonstrates what a rhyme should bring to a children’s book. It offers a great rollicking feel to the book and brings a celebratory tone to it as well. Combined with Jarvis’ deep-colored illustrations, the entire book is a pleasure and takes readers directly into the harvest spirit. Jarvis includes a racially diverse cast of characters in his images. Nicely, this book stays realistic and doesn’t introduce witches or ghosts, so it’s just right for little ones who aren’t looking for anything scary at Halloween.

A glowing picture book about pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns and family. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy provided by Candlewick Press. 

Review: The Rough Patch by Brian Lies

| Tasha

The Rough Patch by Brian Lies

The Rough Patch by Brian Lies (9780062671271)

Evan, a fox, and his dog did everything together from taking rides in the truck to sharing ice cream. What they loved to do most of all was work in Evan’s large garden together. Evan was known for growing large vegetables, competing for the largest pumpkin. But when his dog died, Evan saw his garden as a bitter place. One day, he went out and smashed it into emptiness. But things grow in empty spots, weeds and brambles rose up. They matched Evan’s mood, so he cared for them. Soon his garden was prickly and grim, just like him. When a pumpkin vine came into the garden, Evan cared for it too because it had prickles. Just as the pumpkin turned orange and huge, Evan realized it was time for the fair. Evan found himself enjoying the fair, meeting old friends and eating treats. And the grand prize was just right to set his life and his garden on a new course.

This book is so poignant. Lies captures grief and loss vividly on the page, the bitterness of loss, the emptiness it leaves, and prickliness of emotions left behind. Evan the fox though is a gardener through and through, so he cared for those prickly things, those weeds, and allowed them to flourish. It is a perfect allegory for the process of grief, moving from anger to despair to sadness and finally to acceptance and looking to the future. The arc is beautifully shown.

The illustrations are exceptional. Done with marvelous small details, even Evan’s grief garden is depicted with care from small signs warning of poison to the fences of the garden made of pitchforks. The use of light and dark is done so well, as Evan looks out from the darkness of his home into the light of the garden and gets violently angry.

One of the top picture books of the year, this is a dead dog picture book worth reading. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

 

 

Review: Stumpkin by Lucy Ruth Cummins

| Tasha

Stumpkin by Lucy Ruth Cummins

Stumpkin by Lucy Ruth Cummins (9781534413627)

Stumpkin is one of the pumpkins for sale outside a little shop in the big city. He is a nearly perfect pumpkin. He is bright orange, round and large. Unfortunately though, Stumpkin is missing his stem and only has a little stump instead. As Halloween grows closer, one pumpkin after another is selected to be turned into a jack-o-lantern in the neighborhood. They are placed up in apartment windows and look down at the little shop below. Even the gourd is selected before Stumpkin, leaving him all alone. But there is a happy Halloween ending to come!

Cummins’ story written in a simple style. She shows the difference between Stumpkin and the others, explaining why he is left behind. Children listening to the story will protest that they would pick Stumpkin first since he is so lovely. The feeling of being different and left out builds as the story moves ahead and Stumpkin is left alone and sad. The simple art adds to the appeal of the book with its bright oranges, black cat and jack-o-lantern grins. It is impressive how much emotion she can convey with a few dots and lines on a round pumpkin.

Perfect pumpkin pick for those looking for non-scary Halloween and autumn tales. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy provided by Atheneum.

Review: Rotten Pumpkin by David M. Schwartz

| Tasha

rotten pumpkin

Rotten Pumpkin: A Rotten Tale in 15 Voices by David M. Schwartz, photos by Dwight Kuhn

A dynamic mix of story and nonfiction, this book follows the life of a pumpkin.  He has his shining moment as a jack-o-lantern lit for Halloween, but then is put into the compost.  That is where the story gets interesting.  First he is chewed on by mice, squirrels, slugs and vomited on by flies.  Now he looks a lot different and has fungi growing.  The various molds introduce themselves, explaining what they do, including the fascinating Penicillium.  Sow bugs, earthworms, slime mold and yeast work on the pumpkin too.  It is left as just a pile of seeds and little else.  Until spring arrives!

Schwartz shows readers just how fascinating science is with his in-depth descriptions of the decomposition process.  Children will adore the explanation of how flies taste and eat, the process of earthworm poop, and all of the molds seen up close.  But this book goes far beyond the gross and takes the reader right through the entire process, detailing it with interesting moments throughout. 

The photographs by Kuhn are particularly useful in a book like this.  Capturing the changing face of the pumpkin as it molds over adds real interest visually to the title.  At the same time, the close up images of yeasts and slime mold are grossly gripping.

Perfect for autumn and Halloween, this book will have kids looking at their slumping pumpkins with new eyes.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Ready for Pumpkins by Kate Duke

| Tasha

ready for pumpkins

Ready for Pumpkins by Kate Duke

Hercules, or Herky for short, learned a lot being the classroom guinea pig in Miss MacGuffey’s first grade.  He learned to paint, he learned about Halloween, but best of all, he learned that he could plant a garden from seeds.  And Herky had seeds from the Halloween pumpkin that he had saved in his cage.  So when he was taken for the summer out to the country, he knew he just had to plant his own garden.  He met Daisy, a rabbit, who helped him find a sunny place to plant the seeds.  Herky dug up the dirt, planted the seeds, and watered them.  But then he had to be patient as they grew, and that was the hardest part!  The plants grew, flowers appeared, and finally pumpkins.  But Herky had to return to school before they turned orange!  Will he ever know how his pumpkins turned out?

This is a charming mix of classroom pet story and gardening.  Duke makes Herky quite a character.  He’s impatient to the point of digging up the seeds to see what is happening, angry when the birds and beetles attack his garden, and yet he is also hard working enough to make a garden in the first place.  The writing is simple and reads aloud easily, making this a good book to share with a fall class.

Duke’s art is full of simple lines and bright colors.  As the garden grows, she shows the wild beauty of the pumpkin vines, their many flowers and the slow process of pumpkins growing to maturity.  Daisy and Herky are engagingly drawn little creatures whose growing friendship mirrors that of the garden.

A great pick for pumpkin season or as an addition to spring growing books too.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House.

Book Review: Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell

| Tasha

applespumpkins

Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell

If the heat of summer is getting to you, you can always look ahead to the crispness of fall.  This new edition of the Rockwell classic keeps the same feel as the original.  It is the story of a little girl who heads off into the country to a farm to pick apples and pumpkins.  There they meet the geese, chickens and turkey who live on the farm.  They pick apples and the little girl carefully selects her pumpkin which she later carves into a jack-o-lantern.  The book ends with apples being given away on Halloween.

There is a timelessness to this story that adds to its broad appeal.  Rockwell’s words are simple and friendly, just as they were in the 1988 edition.  Her daughter’s art, done in watercolor, has the same timeless simplicity.  She celebrates the colors of autumn, but keeps the story at the center of the images.

A winning pick for an autumnal story time, you can’t miss with either edition.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

The Very Best Pumpkin

| Tasha

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The Very Best Pumpkin by Mark Kimball Moulton, illustrated by Karen Hillard Good

This is a great fall story that focuses not on Halloween, but on pumpkins and autumn.  It is a story about how one perfect pumpkin can create a new friend.  Peter lives with his grandparents on Pumpkin Hollow Farm.  They grow different crops other times of the year, but in the fall they specialize in pumpkins.  Peter helps care for the pumpkins throughout the summer.  One day when out in the field, he noticed a vine that went out of the field.  Following it, he found a pumpkin all by itself.  He started taking care of that pumpkin too.  Nearby, a girl, Meg, moved into a new home and noticed Peter caring for his special pumpkin.  But she stayed out of sight so he wouldn’t notice her.  Peter also thought that no one was seeing him and his pumpkin.  When it was time to harvest the pumpkins, Peter offered his special pumpkin to Meg and they both realized that this one secret pumpkin had already made them friends.

Moulton portrays an idyllic farm life in this book.  Peter does work hard and diligently throughout the summer, so children will see that farming and growing plants does take time and care.  There are several touches that make this book work very well.  One is that the pumpkin is not the largest, but a special one that is perfectly round.  Another is that there are wonderful moments in the text where pumpkins and autumn are dwelled on.  The prose fills out with descriptions of the vines, the growing pumpkins, and the joy of the harvest. 

Good’s illustrations bring a winning element to the book.  Her illustrations are done on paper that is wonderfully splotched and textured, creating a real feeling of autumn as well as intriguing textures.  On top of this interesting background, her illustrations are done in crisp black outlines and warm earthy colors.  The friendly characters pop against the very natural feel of the book. 

A great addition to fall story times and units, this book celebrates autumn in all of its colors.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Apples and Pumpkins

| Tasha

Apples for Everyone by Jill Esbaum
Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum

Celebrate the fall season with this pair of book from National Geographic Kids.  Both book have simple text just right for beginning readers combined with vivid photographs.  In Apples, readers follow apples from blossom to harvest to different uses.  Mouths will be watering at the caramel apples, applesauce and cider.  In Pumpkin, readers get to see the pumpkins grow on the vine, turn orange, and be made into pies, jack-o-lanterns, and even boats.  Yes, boats.  The photographs feature children of different ethnicities, which is wonderful to see in nonfiction titles.

Esbaum’s photographs steal the show here with their crisp focus, bright colors and interesting compositions.  But her text is not to be ignored.  Her words add context and detailed information that make the photographs even more interesting.

Perfect to expand your fall seasonal shelves, these books come paperback bound so buy a bushel.

Reviewed from copies received from publisher.

Also reviewed by The Well-Read Child.