Ten Orange Pumpkins: a counting book by Stephen Savage (Dial, New York) $18 Savage has created a wonderful book with a Halloween theme suitable for very young preschoolers.
The counting concept is always popular and gives a familiar and comfortable structure to a book about plenty of scary creatures. The scare factor is diminished greatly here as the ghost, mummy and pirates are cheerfully smiling. Even the witch, seen only in silhouette, is a cosy, matronly shape. The stylized illustrations also help to ensure this is clearly a make-believe adventure. Background colours range from a gorgeous blue through bright green, violet and so on as the numbers change until the final page features the standard orange and black associated with the holiday.
There are nice little humorous touches. The mummy scoots off with a pumpkin mummy and the witch's spell is so potent it blows her hat off. A small black cat appears on every double-page spread and adds to the action with its body language.
When the ghost materializes in the kitchen we see a cat with arched back and ears flattened to its head and in the final illustration it is happily rubbing up against the jack-o-lantern.
The buoyant rhymes in this Halloween countdown feature lines like, "Yikes there are nine." or "Arr! There are four." Definitely this is a book that demands to be read aloud.
As the dust jacket says, "Ten orange pumpkins vanish one by one with spooky friends who want to play. Come and join the fun!" An excellent suggestion.
Some other books about pumpkins to enjoy with preschoolers at Halloween are listed below: Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills Five Little Pumpkins by Dan Yaccarino It's Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington Pumpkin Eye by Denise Fleming Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White Where is Baby's Pumpkin? by Karen Katz
Fran Ashdown was the head of the children's department at the Capilano branch of the North Vancouver District Library. She will be serving pumpkin pie at Halloween. For more information check your local libraries.
