Pumpkins: A Story for a Field [Paperback]

Mary Lyn Ray (Author), Barry Root (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Voyager Books

This is a story about a field and a man who loved it enough to do something to save it from development. “Based on the author’s personal efforts to protect the land, this story broadcasts a deliberate and timely environmental message that, like the intentionally nameless protagonist, anyone can make a difference. Aglow in harvest tones, Root’s strong watercolor and gouache paintings heighten the story’s magic.”--Booklist

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Human industriousness saves the day-and the land-in this ecological cautionary tale. When a man discovers that the beloved field across the way is for sale, he goes to great lengths to protect it from developers. When selling all his possessions fails to yield sufficient cash, the man plants a huge patch of pumpkins in the plot. The bountiful harvest enables him to purchase the field, and to keep it in its natural state. Ray's text puts forth a noble premise and a pleasing ending, but its logic makes a slight misstep when it ventures into the fantastic: the man decides to send the pumpkins-via truck, plane and magic carpet-all over the world for sale, rather than completing the transactions closer to home. The author's underlying sense of urgency effectively demonstrates the importance of conservation, and may even have a motivational effect on readers. Root's watereolor and gouache paintings emit a predominantly orange glow, and the expanse of the scenes clearly renders the field and its crop as the true stars here. The gentle play of light and shadow on the horizon lends a becoming sense of serenity. Even the Great Pumpkin himself would be pleased. All ages.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Based on the authors personal efforts to protect the land, this story broadcasts a deliberate and timely environmental message that, like the intentionally nameless protagonist, anyone can make a difference. Aglow in harvest tones, Roots strong watercolor and gouache paintings heighten the storys magic." (Booklist )

Any time of year is a good time for an ecological tale, especially when fun is prominent and didacticism is missing. Ray's Pumpkins has at its center a man with a large heart who loves a field and cries when he views development on the horizon. The man and the land together decide to grow pumpkins and the man devises a wild and wonderful scheme to promote pumpkins all over the world. They succeed and so does the book with the soft orange hues of Root's art and the messages that come from the man and the land rather than the author. (Children's Literature )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper; 1 edition (August 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015201358X
• ISBN-13: 978-0152013585
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 11 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #932,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring fun, quirky book with beautiful illustrations, November 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Pumpkins: A Story for a Field (Hardcover)

Mary Lyn Ray's "Pumpkins: A Story for a field" tells the story of a man's love affair with the open field across from his house. When he sees a "for sale" sign he cries and then decides to take action. After consulting the field, the man decides to grow pumpkins, which he then sends - via boats, planes, trucks and flying carpets - around the world. In Kartoum, Cairo, and Tashkent people buy the round, orange, bumpy pumpkins and then start carving jack-of-lanterns, eating pumpkin ice cream and making pumpkin muffins.

The beautiful illustrations and sweet, funny story captivated, me, my husband's middle school age students, and our 1.5 year old son. Without being preachy or mushy, this book is a wonderful story about land conservation in the real world.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet, silly, instructive -- I love it!, October 29, 2001

By 

Liza (Concord, NH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pumpkins: A Story for a Field (Hardcover)

I am lucky enough to be able to see Ms. Ray and thumb through her books at the Concord Farmers Market each weekend. She is a lovely, magical lady and this is a lovely, magical book! I cried when I first read it and it still makes me weepy because it shows such love and hope. (I am a grownup.) It is also very witty and it SOUNDS good out loud, so parents won't get tired of reading it over and over to the children. Everyone should have a chance to read and re-read Pumpkins, any time of year (it's not a Halloween book, really). Several local conservation organizations carry this book because it demonstrates (in a technically unrealistic way, but that really doesn't matter) how one person can make a big difference. I can't imagine anyone not being touched and amused by this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely story, one of our family's favorites, November 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Pumpkins: A Story for a Field (Hardcover)

This sweet book captivates younger readers with its wonderful painting illustrations, and the simple story of one man's determination. I love the spare, simple text full of evocative details (when he needs to write explanatory tags for every pumpkin he ships to countries that don't have pumpkins, "luckily he knew how to write in many languages"). This is one of those that I get a lump in my throat reading even after who knows how many times through it.