"PUMPKIN DAY, PUMPKIN NIGHT"

by Anne Rockwell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

Rockwell's story of a young boy searching for the perfect pumpkin is more of a meditation than a story to evoke the spirit of a season. A boy is in pursuit of the perfect pumpkin: ""big and round and orange as a setting sun."" At the farmer's market he searches until he discovers just the right one, which had rolled off to one side: ""I think it was waiting there just for me."" He takes it home and then, with his mother handling the knife, they craft a fine jack-o'-lantern that glows mysteriously in the night. Halsey's pretty paper sculptures give the story visual snap, with their intriguing shadow play and sharp relief. Rockwell's occasional stabs at seasonal atmospherics--the smell of pumpkins baking (the mother has bought ten little ones for a pie), apples ripening, the turning leaves--only falteringly conjure an autumnal mood.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999

ISBN: 080279405X

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Walker

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999

Categories: CHILDREN'S