Gearhead Mom

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Thumpety, Bumpety, Thumpin, Bumpin, Round and Roll-y, Runaway Pumpkin

Posted by Missy W. @ 9:14 AM

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I get * super * jazzed about Halloween. Aside from geeking out completely over the theme and general holiday uproar, I love to read thematic books. We have books that cover every major and minor holiday in our house; Chinese New Year, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Halloween, the rites of Spring, yadda yadda yadda. I’ve read them to Sy on every holiday, whether she understands it or not. I do think she’ll get it more this year, especially since I’ve been telling her just about every other hour that Halloween is coming, and that’s a day where we all get to dress up.

My cousin is a school teacher and she gave me about 50 books (no exaggeration) that she bought along the way from those cool, old-school Scholastic catalogs. Within that enormous collection lies a simple, silly Halloween book that I have been reading to Sy every night for the last week and a half, The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis. The plot is not exactly complicated nor is it laden with lessons on manners or gender equality; it’s exactly what it sounds like it is, a gleeful tale of two brothers and their little sister who detach a massive pumpkin and watch the chaos unfold as it rolls down the hill and through their farm.

Sy and I both love the animated illustrations (her favorite is the chicken who lays an egg on Grandpa Baxter’s head). The best part is the infectious “chorus” of the book, “Round and round across the ground makin’ a thumpin’ bumpin’ sound came that thumpety bumpety thumpin’ bumpin’ round and roll-y RUNAWAY PUMPKIN!” The cadence of the book’s rhyme scheme is a bit wonky at first, but after your child has asked you to read it for the fourth time in a row, it comes readily enough. Sy starts bouncing along as I pick up the pace and sing/read/raise my voice during the chorus that peppers the book. Sometimes it’s nice to have a book that has no greater lesson than what sort of smorgasbord you can concoct when a massive pumpkin lands in your front yard.

Snapshot:
Gleefully simple tale of a, you guessed it, RUNAWAY PUMPKIN!
Spunky illustrations give the illusion of movement that keeps up with the tale.
A great thematic book for your pre-Halloween festivities.

** 10/4/07 - Awww. As I write in an adjacent room, I can hear my mom reading Sy this book. Sy’s yelling about the pumpkin rolling down the hill into the chicken coop. Kids are so cool. Grandmas aint half bad, either.

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