Product Description

How they grow, their traditional uses and cultural significance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #179600 in Books
• Published on: 1998-12-04
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .14" h x 9.97" w x 9.74" l, .35 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3-Another example of Gail Gibbons' excellent treatment of a popular nonfiction topic for young students, The Pumpkin Book (Holiday, 1999) explains the planting, cultivating, and harvesting of pumpkins using bold illustrations and simple text. The book is narrated by Polly Collier in a deliberate, unenthusiastic manner that emergent readers might find boring. She carefully explains the page-turn signals (on Side A only) and that the words at the bottom of the page are read first and then the words on the upper "picture" section of the page are read. Most of the words in the upper section are labels of plant structures and pumpkin varieties, and having these words narrated between the reading of the text could confuse young listeners. A well-written book on a popular topic, this title does not transfer successfully to the audio format.
Shauna Yusko, King County Library System, Bellevue, WA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
This book is a perfect example of why it's so hard to turn a good nonfiction picture book into an audiobook. Narrator Polly Collier is very good. Her strong, clear voice makes her sound much like a teacher, and I appreciated her explanation to young listeners that she would be reading the text portion of a picture book. However, the presentation is still confusing, and I wonder how nonreaders and early readers will be able to conceptualize the idea of words and pictures. It's a wonderful book, full of interesting trivia, but I think nonreaders will need someone to help them make the connection to the pictures; transitional and comfortable readers will be fine. W.L.S. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Using bright artwork in her familiar style, Gibbons takes on a favorite fall subject. The first part of the book depicts the complicated process of growing a pumpkin from seed, including an explanation of the role of male pumpkin flowers in the pollination process. Gibbons' illustrations for this section will be particularly useful teaching aides, especially for younger children. The remainder of the book is less science oriented. Halloween and Thanksgiving are each given a colorful double-page spread, though, oddly, the discussion of Halloween never mentions pumpkins at all. An ending section provides related information, such as instructions for carving a pumpkin and drying seeds. A good resource for educators, this also has plenty of kid appeal. Lauren Peterson