The Pumpkin Runner [Hardcover]

Marsha Diane Arnold (Author), Brad Sneed (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: K and up

"Nearly all the sheep ranchers in Blue Gum Valley rode horses or drove jeeps to check on their sheep. But Joshua Summerhayes liked to run...with Yellow Dog trailing behind him." So it's no surprise when Joshua decides to enter a race from Melbourne to Sydney. People laugh when old Joshua shows up in his overalls and gumboots, calmly nibbling a slice of pumpkin for energy. But then he pulls into the lead, and folks are forced to sit up and take notice. Inspired by a true event (and just in time for fall's pumpkin harvest!) a talented team introduces a humble and generous hero who knows that winning isn't always the reason to run a race. Marsha Diane Arnold made "an impressive debut" (School Library Journal) with the multi-award-winning Heart of a Tiger (Dial). Brad Sneed most recently illustrated Smoky Mountain Rose (Dial), an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists that Publishers Weekly said will "make readers 'happy as a pig in a peanut patch.' " Marsha Diane Arnold lives in Sebastopol, California. Brad Sneed lives in Prairie Village, Kansas.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though he may have the appearance of a tall tale hero, Arnold's (Heart of a Tiger) protagonist is inspired by a real 61-year-old Australian farmer who won a 542-mile race in 1983. Joshua Summerhayes, an eccentric sheep farmer from Blue Gum Creek, and his sidekick, Yellow Dog, enter the 12th annual Koala-K Race from Melbourne to Sydney. With the help of energizing slices of pumpkins that grow "round as a wombat's belly," they finish first together and share the $10,000 prize money with the other runners. Arnold's loquacious storyteller style and the farmer's aw-shucks humility lend a hardy, ageless humor to the somewhat meandering plot. Sneed (Smoky Mountain Rose) revels in the contrasts between the farmer's sense of generosity and his workaday attire, set against depictions of the single-mindedness and swaggering bravado of the other runners in their fancy shoes and shorts. When the villain, Damien Dodgerelle, brags that he has "run two hundred kilometers a week for three months training for this race," Joshua says simply, "I just check my herds, from sunup to sundown." As the other runners lift 300-pound weights, perform one-handed push-ups and drink power fluids, Joshua stands in his blue bib overalls and orange gum boots and eats pumpkin stewAand runs for the love of it. Sneed's cleverly skewed perspectives and Arnold's engaging style make this book, like its star, an easy winner. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-With a Woolly Boolly Barbecue, wombats, eucalyptus trees, Platypus Pond, and a famous Koala-K Race in evidence, readers know that this picture book takes place in Australia. A curious mix of tall tale and morality lesson, the plot is pegged on a true incident of a race run and won by a 61-year-old farmer who outdistanced much younger and supposedly better-trained opponents. Long-legged, overall-clad Joshua Summerhayes trains by herding sheep on his ranch, runs in gumboots, gulps down all manner of pumpkin concoctions as fuel, and splits his $10,000 winnings with his competitors. The oils-on-canvas paintings, awash in warm oranges and dappled pastels, shine through wide-open spaces. The rancher's "Ah, shucks" nature combines with his large, almost disproportionate body to create a Paul Bunyan-like figure. Although there are moments of tension in the race and positive feelings for the underdog, the text is not as strong as the artwork. The story ambles along with more or less simple declarative sentences that do not engage readers or sustain the tall-tale quality of the events described. All in all, a pedestrian effort.
Harriett Fargnoli, Great Neck Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dial; 1st edition (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803721242
• ISBN-13: 978-0803721241
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 9.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #345,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marsha Diane Arnold is an award-winning author who the media has called "a born storyteller".

She's written eleven books, some magazine articles, a few poems, and when her children were young, over 500 newspaper columns! The column was called "homegrown treasures" She's received picture book honors as well, including The Ridgeway Award for Best First Book, Children's Choice awards, IRA Distinguished Book, and Smithsonian Notable Book.

Her two newest books show the range of her writing ability. The sweet Family Choice Award winner, Hugs on the Wind, is a very, very quiet book and the uproarious Northern California Book Award nominee Roar of a Snore is a very, very LOUD book.

Marsha travels nationally and internationally as a speaker for schools, conferences, and author festivals. When she's not visiting schools in her travels, she's traveling for fun. Recent trips include China, Alaska, and the Galapagos Islands. Marsha is currently working on a picture book about the Galapagos with a Galapagos nature guide who was born and raised there.

In 2008, Marsha was invited to be one of seven artists involved in Sequoia National Parks Foundation's 2008 Artists in the Back Country, the only children's author ever invited. Part of that involvement was a week at 11,000 feet at Foxtail Camp in Sequoia National Park, where she, along with a National Geographic photographer, a Hugo Award winner, painters, and photographers walked the hills, talked about their experiences, and were inspired by the magnificent landscape. The program hopes to rekindle the American tradition of enhancing public awareness of and appreciation for our national parks and natural world through the arts.

Her vision is to inspire readers to follow their own unique dreams and to have fun doing it! Talking about this with her young fans reminds her to keep following her own dreams, even though she's 60, not 6. "We should never stop dreaming!" she says.

You can find out more about Marsha and her books at her website, www.marshadianearnold.com, or her blog, www.storymagician.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What spinach was to Popeye, pumpkins are to Joshua..., October 17, 2000

By 

Jill Bredal (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pumpkin Runner (Hardcover)

This story has my six year old pretending to eat slices of pumpkin before he zooms off into the distance! It is a compelling tale of an old bloke who beats the odds by just doing what works for him. What I like best about this story, besides it being based on reality, is that it makes folks think about what elders can do, or indeed what people can accomplish, just by being utterly themselves. It's an updated 'tortoise and the hare' fable, really. Incidentally, I found the laconic, modest character of Joshua to be distinctly Australian, having lived there for four years. It's great!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captures the Interest of Every Age, July 25, 2005

By 

Carol A. Nelson "Picture Book Lover" (DC area) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pumpkin Runner (Hardcover)

Bright colorful pictures and down home language make this picture book a favorite with both younger and older children. Based on a true story, this book has a lesson to teach - persevere with those who are unkind. Stick with your goals. Continue to be kind despite opposition. This picture book is pulled out again and again in our home.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING STORY AND AMAZING ART. WONDERFUL CHILDREN'S BOOK!, March 20, 2010

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pumpkin Runner (Hardcover)

What a good one on one read this one is...as a matter of fact, it makes a very nice group read too!

As noted by the author, this children's book is based on the true story and was inspired by a fellow in Australia, Cliff Young, who at the age of 61 meandered through the famous (infamous race...depending on how you look at it) from Sydney to Melbourne, a total of 542 miles, and actually won; beating all of the younger contenders! Like the hero of the story featured in this book, Cliff shared the $10,000.00 winnings with the other participants of the race. Our book hero, like Cliff, is around 61 years old.

This is the story of an old sheep rancher, Joshua Summerhayes and his dog, which goes by the name of Yellow Dog. From a small lad, Joshua ran; he ran everywhere, but for the most part ran after his sheep and back and forth from the family pumpkin patch. He and the great-great-great grandparent of Yellow Dog ran after the sheep, taking care of the flock on into the current times when others used trucks, jeeps, planes, motorcycles and such. No, Joshua and Yellow dog did it my foot and a goodly run, with Joshua wearing only his gumboots as foot wear.

Joshua was for the most part fueled by Pumpkins. He simply could not get enough of the wonderful pumpkins his family raised in their own patch. One day, when Joshua, now an old man, and Yellow Dog, no longer a puppy himself, were setting on the porch after a long run over to Bandicoot Creek, Joshua read a flyer advertising the 12 Annual Koalo-K Race. He and Yellow Dog decide to run.

What follows is a story of that race; of Joshua and Yellow Dog, of gum boots and slices of pumpkin to keep him going. A story of an older, sort of laid back guy, dressed in overall, gumboots and with a common looking yellow dog, and how they defeated the younger, better conditioned (or so they thought) and much better dressed runners. The discussion between training methods and clothing between the younger runners and the old guy for the Outback is absolutely hilarious.

This is a very well told tale. A central theme of pumpkins runs throughout and the author refers to them constantly in a lighthearted way. If you enjoy running, you will love this one. If you are not a runner, you will enjoy it anyway. Kids seem to love this one. It is told in a very "homey" laidback manner, much like the main character of the book.

The art work in this book is by Brad Sneed who is one of my favorite. Mr. Sneed has obviously been strongly influenced by Thomas Hart Benton, who happens to be one of my favorite American painters. His illustrations of a previous book, Smoky Mountain Rose by Alan Schroeder hooked me on this artist.

This book of course has an extremely strong Australian flavor, as it should have, and the kids will be introduced to some wonderful names and sayings which could only be thought up by an Australian. I like this.

It would be extremely difficult to find any fault what-so-ever with this work and I do suggest you get a copy for your child's library. It will be one that they will want read over and over again.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks