PUMPKIN CIRCLE

For those who have seen the charming video of the same name, this will be an unhappy example of what happens when one medium is translated into another. Those who come to this without preconceived notions, however, will find glorious full-color photographs that capture pumpkin marvels, from the mountain of golden orange delights with a girl perched on them to the gorgeous close-ups of green sprouts, feathery buds, and full yellow flowers. The singsong text is often clumsy, rhyming “seeds” with “leaves,” “hair” with “appear,” and “vine” with “time.” The fascinating story of the growth of the pumpkin (and the pumpkin patch), from seed to jack-o-lantern, and then back, decaying, into the earth, is more fully conveyed in the pictures. (Picture book. 4-8)