Five Little Pumpkins

by Iris Van Rynbach

c1995

21 pages

ISBN 1563974525

Counting Book

This rhyming, Halloween book encourages readers to count out 5 pumpkins which are carved into jack-o-lantern faces.

Each face is distinct -- one has glasses, another has eyelashes, the last one has a mustache.

Each pumpkin says a line of the story ("And the third one said") as they follow some trick-or-treaters on Halloween night.

The pumpkins seem to alternatively fly or roll along with the kids.

Illustrations

The illustrations are done in watercolors.

The five little pumpkins always have smiles on their faces, even when they are being blown around on the wind.

The trick-or-treaters are dressed up as a devil, a ghost, two witches, and a clown.

The characters are all happy with smiles on their faces and not scary at all. They knock on the door of a haunted house which has candles in each window and a smiling ghost in one window.

A grinning skeleton hands out candy while some black cats watch from the windows.

Educational Value

Toddlers who are learning to count to "5" will enjoy this book.

The number of words per page ranges from 3 to 10.

The words are all large and very simple.

The rhyming verse makes it easy to encourage a child to guess the final, rhyming word.

There are many autumnal elements on each page, so there is a lot to see and point out and talk about beyond the actual story.

Thumbs Down

There is one confusing issue with the illustrations. One of the trick-or-treaters carries a pumpkin shaped container for their candy. So really, there are SIX little pumpkins on several of the pages.

Bookworm gives this book

4/5 stars