The Horn Book Guide

PRESCHOOL

Toht, Patricia

Pick a Pumpkin

40 pp. | Candlewick | July, 2019 | Trade ISBN 978-1-5362-0764-4 $16.99

(2) PS Illustrated by Jarvis. In this upbeat picture book, a rhyming text and soft, evocative mixed-media illustrations follow a (seemingly interracial) family as they bring home pumpkins from a farm, clean and prepare them, design and carve them, and finally light the finished jack-o'-lanterns. The book has a pleasantly old-fashioned vibe, though with carefully incorporated modern-day safety precautions: adults cut the pumpkins' tops off; kids use plastic saws.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019