Customer Reviews

The Vanishing Pumpkin (Sandcastle Books)

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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This is my favorite book to share with young children for Halloween. It lends itself nicely to using various funny voices for the old woman and the old man. I have used this book with classes for the past four years, and it remains a favorite in my library all year through.

In Mr. Johnston's "The Vanishing Pumpkin" we are introduced to a 700-year old woman and an 800-year old man. This immediately sets the tone for the high level of playful silliness the reader will encounter in the pages within!

Our heroes have a problem: their pumpkin, destined to be a pumpkin pie, has gone missing suddenly, and on Halloween, no less! Right then, the search (and the fun!) begins. It's not in the coffeepot. It's not in the bed, it's not anywhere! "Snitched!" cries the old woman. "'Great snakes!' croaked the old man. 'Who would dare snitch a pumpkin from an 800-year old man?'"

Who indeed...!! They set off down the road to find the missing pumpkin and run into some wonderfully kooky Halloween characters, including a ghoul in stovepipe hat and button boots, a rapscallion picking mushrooms (he is in a heavy cloak with a hooded mask-- my Star Wars savvy students said he looks like a Jawa), a rat-like yellow varmint and finally a wizard in starred robes, spectacles and pointed shoes. All along the way the old man and the old woman play tricks on these funny folk to try to get them to surrender the pumpkin which, of course, they don't have.

The illustrations by Tomie dePaola are wonderfully funny in the way that only Mr. dePaola can make them. Though this is a Halloween story, the illustrations are bright and silly enough to make the story much more funny than frightening. The pace of the text flows quickly but is repetitive enough for young readers to stay hooked by the story.

All in all, it's a wonderful book, and you shouldn't wait for Halloween to go out and get a copy of this fun, fantastic tale!

This is one of my favorite Halloween read-alouds. Tomie DePaola's illustrations are gorgeous and funny, full of vivid Halloween oranges, greens, purples, and blacks, and the story is an offbeat delight that will introduce your child to such delightful vocabulary as "ghoul," "varmint," and "rapscallion." Not at all frightening for even smallest kids, quite funny, and with prose that rolics right off your tongue -- The Vanishing Pumpkin is as much fun for the grown-up reader as it is for the young listener snuggled on his lap.

I have three young boys and they always find this story fun to read or have read to them. We have had it for several years and this slightly offbeat tale never seems to get old. It is a good addition to your Halloween library, although I would go for some classics like "The Headless Horseman," "Tailypo," or other classic tales that are not so scary for young children.

If you like this you might also try "Four Scary Stories" from the duo of Tony Johnson and Tomie Depaola.

"There was a 700-year-old woman. There was an 800-year-old man. They were rocking by the fire as the sun came up."

"Old man," said the woman. "That sun reminds me of something."
"What?" asked the old man.
"Pumpkins. And pumpkins remind me of Halloween.
And that's what day it is."

The old couple heat for the pumpkin patch and wouldn't you know it...the pumpkin had vanished!

This is the beginning of a silly and wonderful little story for Halloween. It is a progressive type of story, much like `The Gingerbread Man." The old couple begins their search and are soon joined by a ghoul, then a Rapscallion, then a varmint and finally they all trace the vanished pumpkin to a 900 year-old wizard who has turned the pumpkin into a jack-o'-lantern, "grinning from ear to ear."

No pie! What will they all do?

This is a delightful little tale and you know form the start that it is going to be good simply due to the fact that anything Tomie dePaola touches is good. The text by Tony Johnston is lively and tongue-in-cheek amusing and of course the art work, which as been done by the best of the best is absolutely wonderful.

This is a great one-on-one read as well as a group read. Its subtle humor will be instantly noted and appreciated by not only the wee ones, but also the adult reader. The reading is not a chore and it is the type of book that will hold up under repeated readings without sending the adult readers eyeballs floating to the back of their heads.

All in all this is a great one to have around during Halloween and actually makes a pretty good story any time of the year.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

This was my favorite Halloween book as a child. It is a very good book for young children to learn to read as it is repetitious and simple yet introduces unusual words to expand their vocabulary. It will for sure be the first Halloween book I read to my children.

Cute tale of an old man and old woman, each hundreds of years old, looking for the person that stole their big pumkin. Just as they were going to pick it to make pie, it vanished. They go to see the ghoul, and show they have ways to make you talk. You see they are both witches with very old power. They go to see the rapscallion, and even the varmint. But no one knows who took their pumpkin. They finally meet up with a powerful wizard, even older than they are. Will they find their pumpkin in time to make pumpkin pie?

Some repetitive lines and rhyming make this a nice book for reading to the younger ones, and not scary at all. Good story to go to sleep with. Terrific art work and colors by the great Tommi de Paola. I reccommend.

I love this story illustrated by Tomie dePaola. An old man and woman encounter a host of characters on a quest to find their pumpkin that has been "snitched." They finally meet an old wizard who has a surprise for them. This is a great story to read at Halloween.

Charming characters (varmints and rapscallions) help a very old man and a very old woman look for their snitched pumpkin, 'cause they want some pumpkin pie. Brilliant colors, engaging drawings, and lots of humorous repetition are carved into this story with a delicious ending. My favorite Halloween story for lil kids.

I love to read this one to my kids and they love it too! Not only do I get to say fun words like rapscallion and varmint, there are funny, unexpected twists - like when the old woman and the old man took off down the road "as fast as a 700-year-old woman and the 800-year-old man could. In fact they fairly flew!" Highly recommended for ages 3-9!