Customer Reviews

My Happy Pumpkin: God's Love Shining through Me

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Hi, it's me, Esmé, reviewing my very own book! I am two AND A HALF now! Though I tell everybody I'm three, cuz it's easier to hold up three fingers than two and a half.

Back to the book... My Happy Pumpkin: God's Love Shining Through Me is written by Crystal Bowman and illustrated by Claudine Gevry. It is a colorful board book in a cool pumpkin/sunflower shape! The book is not too long, and it rhymes, so it is easy to sit through the whole thing. Plus, there is a mouse to look for on ALL the pages! It's targeted for ages 2-5.

Here's what the publisher has to say about the book: "This book shares with young children the delight of picking out and carving your first pumpkin and compares this experience to God choosing us and shaping us to his delight. Just as the candle we put in a pumpkin glows, so does God's light shine in us."

Here's what I have to say about it:

What is the book about? A pumpkin!

What is the daddy doing? Planting seeds!

What is the mouse doing? Throwing a ball! No, he is eating a pumpkin seed that just happens to look like a miniature football.

Wow, look at all the pumpkins that grew! I like THAT one. Why? Because! I like THAT one.

What color are the trees? That one is yellow. That one is orange. That one is ...? Brown. That one is green. Why are they different colors? Because it is fall. Do you like the fall? I like Christmas. And I like fall.

Now the pumpkin is carved! What are the eyes? Circles. What is the nose? A triangle. What is the mouth? Happy!

How do you show God you love him? I don't know... Is it by obeying? I don't know...

What is the little boy doing? He is praying to the mouse. No! He is praying to God! The mouse is just sleeping. No! (and so ensues an argument that I won't detail here...)

Mommy's Notes

As you can see, theology remains a constant topic of debate in our house. That's why I'm glad for Zonderkidz books!

We've chosen not to celebrate Halloween at our house. This isn't the forum for a debate on the topic, so I won't go into reasons. But I will say that it's becoming more challenging now that we have a kid. There is nothing inherently wrong with princess costumes, chocolate, candied apples, pumpkins, and scarecrows. (Well, maybe there is something inherently wrong with chocolate, but once again, we won't debate that here...) So how do you enjoy all the fall season has to offer if you're trying to ignore the biggest holiday of the season?

What I love about this book is the way it steers completely clear of Halloween, while bringing beautiful meaning to the carved pumpkin. Here is a portion of the text:

"My pumpkin is happy and I'm happy too.

For God picked me out, and he made me like new...

...I'll try to be good so that others can see

God's love and God's light, shining through me."

Crystal Bowman is now my favorite! My son loves the pictures in this book and I love that it is about God and His love. It has a very sweet message that children can understand.

My mother-in-law works as a librarian, so she's always giving our son books. Therefore, we have a lot of books; this one was an INSTANT favorite in our house. He made us read it at least twice a day for weeks. :) (we also have "My Thanksgiving Prayer" and he loves that one, too). The illustrations are bright and fun, and the stories are simple and clear. The book rhymes, too, which is a plus for us. I highly recommend these as quality books with a quality message that kids and parents will like.

I was first introduced to this series of books last Christmas. There are several Christmas ones that explain Christmas trees, presents, etc. I was very excited to see they had one for Halloween. It is hard to not get carried away with the holidays, but this brings it back to the Christian view without being preachy.

The kids love this book and so do the parents and grandparents. Simple enough for the kids and the illustrations are engaging. Simple story and not at all preachy. Will be looking for more from this author.

My children love this book. Crystal Bowman is one of our favorite authors, but this book is their favorite.