Robin Hill School: The Pumpkin Patch

"The Pumpkin Patch" by Margaret McNamara. Illustrated by Mike Gordon. Aladdin Paperbacks, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2003 This is a "Ready To Read" book that begins with Mrs. Connor bringing her first grade class to the "Pumpkin Patch" to pick out a pumpkin for Halloween, and Katie wanted to find the perfect pumpkin. All throughout the long bus ride (on a standard yellow school bus), Katie dreamed about the "perfect pumpkin". BUT! When she finally chose a pumpkin, Katie's ideal pumpkin did not meet the expectations of all the other kids, Emma and Ayanna and Neil and James. Not round! Not big! Not tall! Too, too small! Katie realized that her pumpkin was too small. When Katie tells her father that she had picked a "... bad pumpkin", Dad knows just what to do. What they do together is the central theme of the entire book, and I will not tell you here how the father solves the dilemma. This is an excellent Halloween book, especially for individuals who are concerned that Halloween is really an ancient pagan Celtic feast. By the way, one of the reasons that we purchased this book for our granddaughter, Tabitha, is that my wife, a widow, was Mrs. Connor, a school teacher, before she married me, a widower.

My son reads at an early first grade level and found this book to be only slightly challenging and plenty of fun to read. The story was interesting, which is always an important motivator. The pages have colorful pictures and are not overly wordy, which can somtimes overwhelm beginners. Finally, most of the words are phonetic, with very few sight words, which was great for us, as my son gets frustrated when a story has too many new sight words that he doesn't know.