Looking for an excellent Halloween book in verse to
read aloud to young children? I've got a recommendation for you: PICK A
PUMPKIN, which was written by Patricia Toht and illustrated by Jarvis. The book
was published in July. I was eager to get a copy of PICK A PUMPKIN to read to my granddaughters
because we all loved Toht's PICK A PINE TREE, which was also illustrated by
Jarvis.
In PICK A PUMPKIN, a family goes to a farm to
select just the right pumpkin to carve for Halloween. While at the farm, they
also
Stop
for mugs
of
spicy punch,
toffee
apples,
sweet
to crunch.
The family takes the pumpkin home, rubs it clean,
and gathers the things they'll need for carving their jack-o-lantern.
Then...they invite a "pumpkin carving crew" over to help.
The crew begins their work:
Now
all together...
carve
the eyes.
Giant
circles of surprise.
Small
slits sleeping
or
one eye peeping.
Cross-eyes
crazy.
Angry.
Lazy.
Before
the crew lights its "new creation," they decorate the house for Halloween
with...
Cobwebs
strung from post to post.
Rings
of gauzy dancing ghosts.
Spiders.
Tombstones.
Dangling
bats.
Skeletons
and witches' hats.
Next,
the children don their costumes, take the jack-o-lantern outside, and an adult
strikes a match so it will glow.
It's
red-hot eyes
will
gaze
and
flicker.
Its
fiery grin
will
blaze and snicker.
It
will also guard the house while the children are off trick-or-treating.
Jarvis's
illustrations are a perfect match for Toht's rhythmic, rhyming text. The final
double-page spread shows children trick-or-treating in a dark neighborhood that
glows with lit jack-o-lanterns and streetlights. The book truly captures the "spooky"
excitement children feel on Halloween.
Karen
Edmisten has the Poetry Friday Roundup at her blog.
