The Runaway Pumpkin

Despite the warnings of their sister Lil, Buck and Billy Baxter set a massive pumpkin rolling down the hill toward their farm in this Halloween picture book from author Kevin Lewis and illustrator S.D. Schindler. As it wreaks havoc on its way down, the pumpkin also evokes thoughts of delicious autumn treats in the family members it passes, until finally the gourd's journey is stopped by Papa Baxter and his tractor. Now it falls to Grandma to do something with this massive pumpkin, leading to a holiday feast...

With its rhythmic rhyming text and colorful illustrations, The Runaway Pumpkin is a fun Halloween tale, and would lend itself to reading aloud during the Halloween season, whether at bedtime or in a story hour. I'm more used to show more seeing scenes of family dinner in Thanksgiving and Christmas picture books, so I found the conclusion here unexpected, but also pleasing. As someone with a fondness for witches—witchy picture books being a particular pet project of mine—I appreciated the fact that Lil is dressed in a witch costume for the day, and enjoyed those scenes which featured her prominently. Recommended to anyone looking for fun Halloween picture books—more on the silly than the scary side—in rhyme. show less

Some farm kids push an extremely large pumpkin down a hill toward the family homestead. The subsequent chaos and destruction seems secondary to all the adults who imagine ways the pumpkin could be cooked.

You'd think there would be major repercussions, but then I think how I got off easy at six when I knocked Dad's car into neutral and it rolled downhill into the barn. After some initial shock, Dad ended up with a brand-new Cadillac, a larger barn, and an amusing story about his son bursting into the bathroom while he was on the toilet and yelling, "I drove it, Dad, I drove the car! But, oh, Dad, I wrecked it! I wrecked it all to hell!"

My daughter liked this book when I read it to her at four-years-old, but she was less fond of it here show more twenty years later when I read it to her again.

FOR REFERENCE:

Rated "Indifferent" in our old book database by Rod; rated "Good" by Adelia. show less

In my opinion, this is a great book. The story follows a large pumpkin as it rolls down the hillside of the family farm. The pumpkin crashes into things and people on its way down the hill. As the family sees the pumpkin, they think about what Granny can make with it. One of the things I like best about is this story is the rhyming. The rhyming makes the story fun to read, especially aloud. “A short way down the hillside, that zooming pumpkin caught the eye of a mucking Momma Baxter, who thought of Granny’s pumpkin pie.” I also really like the rhyming phrase that is used a few times throughout the story, “Round and round across the ground makin’ a thumpin’ bumpin’ sound came that thumpety, bumpety, thumpin’ bumpin’ show more round and roll-y runaway pumpkin!” The repeated phrase really adds a fun and creative aspect to the story. The illustrations also add to the overall humor in the story. The illustrations are very detailed, and very colorful. My favorite page in the story is when the pumpkin bursts through a fence, and all the animals look terrified. A pig climbed up a tree, a goat is standing there with wide eyes and an opened mouth, and a cow is running away with a shocked look on her face. The big idea is to entertain children with a story about turning a bad thing into something good. The big pumpkin crushed a lot of things on the family farm, but the Granny was able to turn that pumpkin into lots of different pumpkin treats. show less

The Runaway Pumpkin is a very cute and funny children book. It is about a family that lives on a farm that is on the side of a hill. One day the two boys decided to take an adventure up the hill side. On the other side they discovered a pumpkin patch. They went through the patch on a mission to find the biggest pumpkin out of them all. Once they did, they pushed it and it began rolling down the hill where it went crashing into their barn and their chicken coop. When Poppa saw the pumpkin rolling out of control he plowed a bed for it and thankfully the pumpkin stopped dead in its tracks.
This is another book that my mother enjoyed reading to me as a child. She always liked to read it around Halloween and Thanksgiving since the theme goes show more well with it. The language in it makes the book enjoyable and the illustrations are very accurate and are very helpful when visualizing the story.
I would use this book as a end of the day fun book around Halloween or thanksgiving. It would be fun to read together as a class and maybe throw in a art project at the end to display in the hallway the keep the Fall theme going. show less

The Runaway Pumpkin is a great rhyming story that talks about Buck, Billy, and their little sister Lil that find a very large pumpkin on top of a hill. The brothers decide to detach the pumpkin from the vine and as it rolls don the farm’s hill, each member of the family can’t help but thing a delicious pumpkin creation. Poppa Baxter thinks quickly and plows a pumpkin bed which captures the pumpkin and the whole family is then able to enjoy various treats from the pumpkin. The verses in the book flow seamlessly and the repeated use of the poem used to describe the sound of pumpkin rolling down the hill was a great touch to the story. The book gets its Halloween theme from the costumes on each of the characters as well as the festive show more treats made from the pumpkin. Fall and Halloween are my favorite time of the year and this book would be great in a classroom to help inspire students to create their own fall/Halloween story. show less

Join the rollicking fun as a giant pumpkin is set loose and wreaks havoc on a family farm. As it makes its getaway, the pumpkin bumps along ‘round and ‘round. What will they do? Lucky for everyone, Poppa knows the answer to their problem.

The Bottom Line: This humorous, rhyming story is perfect for reading aloud. Kids ages PreK – Grade 1 will want to join in the fun. The comical, colorful illustrations make this a great pick for story time. Highly recommended for libraries and schools.

This review also appears at the Mini Book Bytes Book Review Blog.

The Runaway Pumpkin is about a family who lived on a farm on the side of a hill. One day Buck nad Billy wondered up the hillside where they found a pumpkin patch. The two boys picked the biggest pumpkin they could find and it went rolling down the hill. After crashing into the barn and the chicken coop, Poppa saw the pumpkin, and plowed a bed where the pumpkin stopped dead in it's tracks.

My children and I like this book very much. It is a book that can be used at Halloween or Thanksgiving either one. The children are wearing costumes, but it also talks about making pumpkin bread and pie which goes along with the Thanksgiving theme. I love the rhyming and the predictable saying throughout the book.

In the classroom Imight use this book show more when learning about Thanksgiving and the different foods associated with it. I would also use this book as an example of alliteration. show less