Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin

by Mary Serfozo, Valeria Petrone (Illustrator)

Overview

Peter's looking for the perfect pumpkin. Come join the search and see what he does when he finds a pumpkin that's just right!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689871351
Publisher:	Aladdin
Publication date:	09/01/2004
Edition description:	Repackage
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	AD430L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mary Serfozo is the author of several picture books, including Who Said Red? and What's What? A Guessing Game, both illustrated by Keiko Narahashi. She and her husband have two children and three grandchildren, and live in a solar home in Paso Robles, California.

Valeria Petrone has illustrated several books for children, including Ducks in Muck by Lori Haskins, Say Cheese! by Nancy Smiler Levinson, and Uh-Oh! by Marion Dane Bauer. She is the illustrator for Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin by Mary Serfozo and, most recently, illustrated Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea. She currently lives in Italy.

Editorial Reviews

Booklist Toddlers will relish the bouncy, rhyming stanzas and the silly wordplay....A great nonspooky Halloween storytime choice.

From the Publisher

Appealing wordplay and autumnal colors lend warmth to this tiger tale. Peter, an orange cub with an upturned grin, wouldn't pick just any pumpkin: "Not a stumpy, grumpy pumpkin,/ but a sunny, sumptuous pumpkin." He chooses a bounteous specimen, carves it and wins a contest, for "Perfect pumpkins really do/ make perfect jack-o-lanterns, too." Serfozo's (Who Said Red?) stumbly, bubbly tongue-twisters complement Petrone's (Ducks in the Muck) adroit digital illustrations, which mimic paint swooshes of violet, harvest gold and orange. Peter is a charmer. Ages 3-6. (Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2-One of the most refreshing aspects of this book is that it provides a wonderful selection for storyhours that isn't full of the typical Halloween imagery. There are no costumes, ghosts, or witches, and the word "Halloween" is not even mentioned in the text itself. Serfozo tackles a subject that has been covered many times before-selecting a pumpkin and turning it into a jack-o'-lantern. However, this title is far from old and stale. Peter, a boldly rendered and engaging tiger cub, is on the hunt for the perfect "sunny, sumptuous pumpkin." He does not want a "lumpy, bumpy pumpkin" or a "stumpy, grumpy pumpkin" or "some squat, lopsided pumpkin,/but a glossy lot of pumpkin." Finding one that meets his standards, he and his father carve "a simply dimply, dumply face." The large, vibrant illustrations are a perfect match for this short rhyming story. A quick, engaging read-aloud that will be enjoyed at many fall programs.-Piper L. Nyman, Fairfield/Suisun Community Library, Fairfield, CA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Marbles-in-your-mouth wordplay fun as a tiger cub searches for a prime pumpkin specimen. Set to color-saturated artwork, this piece of simple yet exuberant verse follows Peter as he selects from pumpkins lumpy and bumpy, stumpy and grumpy. And pray, "Not some squat, lopsided pumpkin, / but a glossy lot of pumpkin." Having scoured the expressionistic and very orange landscapes and located his perfect pumpkin, Peter is tempted to turn the beauty into "Pumpkin pudding? / Pumpkin fry? / Pumpkin salad? / Pumpkin stew? / What is Peter going to do?" What he does is shuffle home with the pumpkin and with the help of his father carve it into a glorious jack-'o-lantern. There is a soothing flow to this story as Peter moves from the hunt for the perfect pumpkin-endowed with the romantic, otherworld qualities of a quest through lambent and surreal scenery, where even the trees look like big, round pumpkins-to that most curious of symbols, the jack-'o-lantern, whose associations can be plumbed to a fare-thee-well. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews