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Summary
Summary
From beloved children's book author Margaret Wise Brown and Caldecott Medalist Richard Egielski comes an enchanting Halloween tale!
A fat little, round little, yellow little pumpkin dreams of growing up to be fierce and frightening, just like the scarecrow in the field. Then one day in autumn, when he has grown big and fat, the fierce yellow pumpkin gets the chance to become terrific and terrible.
With rich, warm illustrations and inimitable words from the author of Goodnight Moon, The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin is sure to delight for generations.
Author Notes
Margaret Wise Brown was born on May 23, 1910 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York, to Robert Brown, a Vice President at American Manufacturing Company and Maud Brown, a housewife. She attended school in Lausanne, Switzerland for three years, before attending Dana Hall in Wellesley, Massachusetts for two years. In 1928, she began taking classes at Hollis College in Virginia.
In 1935, Brown began working at the Bank Street Cooperative School for student teachers. Two years later, her writing career took off with the publication of "When the Wind Blows." Over the course of fourteen years, Brown wrote over one hundred picture books for children. Some of her best known titles include Goodnight Moon, Big Red Barn and Runaway Bunny.
Margaret Wise Brown died on November 13, 1952 of an embolism following an operation in Nice, France.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Appropriately for All Hallow's Eve, one of the season's holiday standouts is a posthumous publication. The late great Brown (Goodnight Moon) tells the story of a "fat little, round little, yellow little pumpkin [who] began to think he was a very fierce vegetable." The pumpkin fantasizes about being as frightening as a scarecrow, and when three children carve him a "zigzag grin," he gets his wish: "Ho, ho, ho!/ He, he, he!/ Mice will run/ when they see me." Egielski's (Jazper) nostalgic pictures conjure up warm gold-and-sepia country fields, and he suspensefully keeps the pumpkin's face hidden until a wordless double spread reveals its candlelit glory. A polished presentation. Ages 3-6. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
A pumpkin dreams of being as frightening as a scarecrow or the hot sun and gets his wish when children carve him into a jack-o'-lantern. The seasonal story has rhythmic language--Ho, ho, ho! / He, he, he! / Mice will run / when they see me!--and just enough scariness to appeal to preschoolers. Egielski's illustrations get darker as the story proceeds and end with mice running away from the jack-o'-lantern with the zigzag grin. From HORN BOOK Spring 2004, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
PreS-Gr. 1. In this previously unpublished story by Brown, a small green pumpkin grows into a fat little, round little, yellow little pumpkin who yearns to frighten away field mice, as the nearby scarecrow does. At the first frost, the pumpkin turns orange. Then, after being picked, hollowed out, and carved into a jack-o-lantern, he gets his wish. Egielski's artwork features subtle shadings and interesting juxtapositions of colors. The large-scale, wordless spread showing the jack-o-lantern's face is a winner, and throughout the book, the figures of the field mice are very expressively created. The story rolls along smoothly with a clear plot line and some nice phrasing. Although the text notes that the pumpkin looks ferocious in the end, this not-so-scary picture book would make a good classroom read-aloud choice for young children who like the idea of fright better than actually being frightened. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2003 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-In melodic, flowing prose, readers are introduced to a "fat little, round little, yellow little pumpkin in a great big field." Here the artist paints a huge, searing white sun rising behind the yellow-green pumpkin to contrast beautifully with him and make his eventual growth into a big, orange pumpkin vivid and dramatic. This little pumpkin dreams of making a "fierce, ferocious gobble-gobble face" to scare away the field mice "like the scarecrow does." The intense sun-gold skies match the mood here wonderfully. Somber grays and taupes on the next several pages provide visual contrast and slow down the pace so that children can take in more of the details. The little pumpkin feels a "crisp tingle that tickled [his] sides." After three children take him home and use a small saw knife to make his mouth "zigzag up and zigzag down," he says, "Ho, ho, ho!/He, he, he!/Mice will run/when they see me." The youngsters dance gleefully about him singing a song to the "terrific, terrible pumpkin." With Brown's rhythmic text and patterned language and Egielski's illustrations highlighting the moods she evokes, this title is a real treat for Halloween storytimes. Also, it's a surefire hit for creative drama activities because of all the action and emotion in the story.-James K. Irwin, Poplar Creek Main Library, Steamwood, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In a previously unpublished tale from Brown (whose newly unearthed early work is filling the shelves lately), a "fat little, round little, yellow little pumpkin" enviously regards a one-eyed scarecrow while growing into a "fiery orange-yellow pumpkin. The color of the sun"--whereupon three children carry it off to make it into a jack-o-lantern. Along with a trio of field mice, children can follow the pumpkin's development as seasons change in Egielski's ground-level scenes, then jump in surprise at coming face-to-face, in a spread-filling close-up, with a "terrific, terrible pumpkin," bearing a new zigzag grin: "Ho, ho, ho! / He, he, he! / Mice will run / when they see me!" The mice do indeed scamper off, but young audiences are more likely to stay put, ready for a repeat encounter with this long-buried episode. (Picture book. 5-7) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
