Customer Reviews

Pumpkin Town! Or, Nothing Is Better and Worse Than Pumpkins

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love everything about this book - the enchanting, precise storytelling; the wacky, colorful art; and the gentle (i.e. NOT heavy-handed) message about conservation and actions equalling consequences. Katie McKy's story and Pablo Bernasconi's artwork were meant to storytell together. A fun romp from start to finish.

What a delightful story. The words flow from beginning to end. I was very impressed with the unusual visual ending. When you finish the story, not before, remove the book sleeve and the art on the cover produces a sense of de ja vous. A perfect story for young readers and for even younger listeners.
Sylvia Mirisola

Let me list the things I love about it: the story; the illustrations; the way it reads aloud for pre-readers; its suitability for reading kids; and the rich possibilities for talking with more advanced kids about some Big Ideas sure to come out of this tale of delicious dilemmas.

I bought the book for my grandchildren, and the 4 and 6 year olds loved it--and I enjoyed it, kept turning the pages along with them. As a librarian and teacher, I also appreciated the quality of this imaginative, colorful book.; it arrived quickly and had secure packaging. It is a well-made, reasonably priced hardcover and am looking forward to seeing more of this author's books.

Subtitled: Or, Nothing Is Better and Worse Than Pumpkins

Pumpkin Town! is a lively tale of brothers who grow pumpkins for a living. They unknowingly scatter seeds on a neighboring town causing an avalanche of pumpkins to grow. Though their actions were unintentional, the brothers take responsibility for the mountain of pumpkins that has overrun the town.

They harvest all the pumpkins and clean up the vines to bring in a tidy profit for the town. The townspeople are so overjoyed that they reward the brothers with large, sweet watermelons. The open ending encourages young readers to speculate on what will happen during the next growing season.

Pumpkin Town! is a delightful story of values that honors the reader's ability to draw conclusions for themselves. While many children's books offer a "knock you over the head" moral, this story subtly guides the reader to discover the values of taking responsibility and having a strong work ethic. The lyrical language and bright pages keep even the most distractible children entertained. The illustrations, a colorful and creative mix of paste paper, photographs, fabrics, and computer imaging provide a rich visual texture to the story.

Pumpkin Town! is recommended for ages 4-8. For the younger set, it is a funny tale to be enjoyed. For slightly older children, it can serve as a springboard to develop the logical skill of cause and effect as well as a fun creative writing "what happens next" project.

Armchair Interviews says: Children can draw their own conclusions.

This is one of our kids' (aged 2-5) favorite books, and we never tire of reading it to them. The story is fun, kid-centric, and features a positive work ethic; and the art really pushes it over the edge into greatness. It's also one of the few open-ended young children's books we've found, inviting parents to ask "do you think that *was* the end of it?" and "what do you think happens next?" and the kids follow the book's pattern or invent wild stories of their own. It's also just the right length for a bedtime story.

Pumpkin Town! Or, Nothing Is Better and Worse Than Pumpkins
Jose and his four brothers live on a farm with their father, where they grow pumpkins. After each harvest, they send most of their crop off to market but save the best pumpkins for their seeds. Among those, they choose only the best seeds for planting and toss the rest away. But one fall day a gusty wind carries those seeds onto a nearby town, and come spring the entire town is overrun with pumpkins. When Jose and his brothers arrive in town, they realize that the bumper crop is their fault and they must do what they can to set things right.

Pumpkin Town is a quirky and fun tale, made more so by Pablo Bernasconi's unusual illustrations. The collage style and distorted proportions add a fanciful touch to the story, and are sure to catch a child's interest. Despite the humorous storyline, Pumpkin Town incorporates lessons on taking responsibility for our errors, on the value of gratitude and gifts, and even on ecological responsibility. Children will read or listen to this story without even realizing the ethical lessons that it is imparting, which is one of the great accomplishments of children's literature.

What a cute story. I loved it. The text was well done, and the illustrations were fitting for the book. When I tried to flip through the pages without reading I could not follow a clear story line; the text definitely is necessary. But the combination of text with pictures works very well. The illustrations reminded me of many graphic files I have created using Adobe Illustrator. There are 16 scenes (mostly 2-pages long) in this book.

The story is about a pumpkin farmer with 5 sons who work the farm. At the end of their pumpkin season they save what they consider to be the best pumpkin seeds so they will have something to plant for the next year. The less-than-best seeds must be discarded. And when you read the book you will see where those discarded seeds went and the problems they created.

I would have liked the book better if the illustrations had been a little more involved. And, of course, I wish I had been able to flip the pages at the outset and understand the story without having to read the text. But the finished product is one that I am sure children will like to have read to them time and time again. 5 stars!

The book, Pumpkin Town! Or, Nothing is Better and Worse than Pumpkins, arrived in good shape and in the timeframe expected. We are pleased.

The illustrations are vivid & fun & really add to the story - which on it's own may not stand. Some of the wording could have been done a little different, but over all it was a pretty decent read.