Mrs. McMurphy's Pumpkin

This is me and my son's favorite autumnal book. I have been reading it to him since he was three years old( he is now 6) , and he loves to read along when we get to the pumpkin part and his "wicked, wicked grin". I do not think it is any scarier than Hansel and Gretel , The three bears or even The Three Billy Goats Gruff. It is beautifully illustrated, and shows how a person can calmly handle a scary situation.

My son is 2 and he asks for this book over and over. It's just scary enough for his attention to be riveted, but not so scary he's really afraid. And I love the message of the book about what to do when we are threatened.

The things I like best about this book is the Mrs. McMurphy is a woman who lives on her farm in the country, and she's no dummy! One morning a pumpkin comes to her home and tells her as soon as he gets a mouth he's going to eat her. Each day she nicely listens to the pumpkin each day, and then sends the pumpkin on it's way as she goes about doing her morning work around her farm. I absolutely love the colors in this book they are so bold. And the ending is really clever! Make sure you read this book first because you know your child and how your child will react, some children might not like the pumpkin, he does look mean. My daughter never had a problem with the pumpkin.

I like the little bit of suspense this book provides for the child without being overly scary. A pumpkin appears one day in Mrs. McMurphy's house , at that time the pumpkin only has a grin and no other facial features. The pumpkin tells her that when he gets his teeth , he is going to eat her. Mrs. McMurphy handles the situation beautifully, and calmly removes the pumpkin from her house .(I love when she boxes the pumpkin and sends it to the North Pole.)But the pumpkin keeps returning, and every time it does , it possesses a new facial feature. As the pumpkin continues to return the suspense builds. Finally the pumpkin returns with his teeth, and Mrs. McMurphy ends up making a pie out of the pumpkin and giving slices of it out to trick or treaters. Nicely illustrated, I love the emerging details on the pumpkin, a nice Halloween story for young children . Just enough suspense to make it a Halloween story without frightening the child too much. I like the way Mrs. McMurphy handles the pumpkin , I think it's good for children to see that you can handle things calmly.

As a primary teacher, I search for seasonal books that lend themselves to the essense of specific times of year and science- oriented issues. I use good literature to touch on science, geography, SS and art. (There just isn't enought time in the day!) Mrs. McMurphy's Pumpkin is rich with the colors of the season. Pumpkin blossoms and vines are everywhere. As you count down the days to Halloween, you are treated to illustrations of Mrs. McMurphy's farm in the fall - delightful. Adding a new feature to the pumpkin's scary appearance while repeating the previous features promotes memory and pattern understanding in young listeners. (And of course they can recall the senses - ex. "My nose is here, I smell you.") But most importantly in these changing times, (many no longer "celebrate" Halloween because they feel focusing on Halloween can promote evil connotations) this selection is anything BUT evil. Mrs. McMurphy's pumpkin delivers a fun, beautifully -illustrated tale that presents a scary feeling during the Halloween season without witches or goblins. It is really about a beautiful country farm and its charming, easy-going resident, Mrs. McMurphy. Farm animals, fall trees, the autumn sky..... pumpkin vines and blossoms...fun trick-or-treaters... A charming story, elegantly illustrated. Cindy Vickery "teacher"