That's a Pumpkin?!?!?

The Ugly Pumpkin

Written by Dave Horowitz

Illustrated by Gina DiMassi

The Penguin Group, 2005

32 pages

Poetry

            A few years ago I was in Books-a-Million, saw this book and could not resist the cover.  So, I picked it up and read it and was in love from that moment on.   The book is about a sweet “pumpkin” that was looking to fit in, but all the other pumpkins laughed at him.  The trees played ruthless jokes on him, and the goblins threw things at him.  As he wanders through the forest, he comes upon a dinner party and sees all these things that look like him.  If you want to know what he really is and how this story ends, grab this book and a hot chocolate and read away.

            The cartoon illustrations are done with cut paper, charcoal and colored pencils.  The illustrations look so real that the laughing pumpkins kind of jump off the page at you.  The text is on the illustrations in white or black ink depending on the color scheme of the pages.  The illustrations cover both pages and really grab the reader with the turn of each page.  The book is written informally and has a whimsical feel to it.  The text is also easy to read with just a few lines per page. This book is a good one for a beginning reader.

            This book would be good for kindergarten through third grade.  The book is easy to read but has a subject matter that any age will understand.  I would use this book in a character education class to teach children about diversity and acceptance.  A science lesson would be good for this book to teach students about gourds and other fall vegetables.  This book would be very good also for a health class to teach students about the food pyramid and the importance of eating healthy. To my knowledge, the book has not won any awards.