What do you think?
Rate this book
Ready, Freddy! #11
The Pumpkin Elf Mystery
With more than one million copies in print, READY, FREDDY! has been a huge success in Scholastic's Book Clubs.
Who is the Pumpkin Elf, and where is he? Freddy Thresher and the rest of his first-grade class follow clues to find a mysterious Halloween elf who comes to their classroom at night and plays tricks on everyone. The teacher says that the Pumpkin Elf will only leave treats if the class behaves. Can Freddy and his friends find the elf, mind their manners, and collect their pumpkin surprises?
Who is the Pumpkin Elf, and where is he? Freddy Thresher and the rest of his first-grade class follow clues to find a mysterious Halloween elf who comes to their classroom at night and plays tricks on everyone. The teacher says that the Pumpkin Elf will only leave treats if the class behaves. Can Freddy and his friends find the elf, mind their manners, and collect their pumpkin surprises?
96 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2007
45 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
Abby Klein
106 books55 followersAbby Klein was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She earned her teaching credentials at Dartmouth College, where she majored in psychology and education. She then went on to earn her master's degree in reading and language development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Currently she teaches in the same public elementary school she attended as a child in the Los Angeles area. She has been a kindergarten and first-grade teacher there for more than fifteen years and is very involved in the school community, as both a teacher and a parent. Her two young children also attend the school where she teaches. In addition, she is a “teacher-leader” in her district, and over the years, she has presented many staff development workshops both at the district level and at her school site that centered on reading, writing, and literacy. She has been a presenter at national conferences as well.
In her first published series, Ready, Freddy!, Klein brings just the right amount of true-to-life humor and drama. She brings young readers a fresh voice, a great sense of humor, and a unique perspective on the trials and tribulations of first grader Freddy Thresher. Utterly authentic and drawn from real experience in the classroom, Abby Klein knows exactly what first graders are thinking.
She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband, two children, and three dogs. She thinks there's nothing better than a good book, and she loves reading aloud to children.
Currently she teaches in the same public elementary school she attended as a child in the Los Angeles area. She has been a kindergarten and first-grade teacher there for more than fifteen years and is very involved in the school community, as both a teacher and a parent. Her two young children also attend the school where she teaches. In addition, she is a “teacher-leader” in her district, and over the years, she has presented many staff development workshops both at the district level and at her school site that centered on reading, writing, and literacy. She has been a presenter at national conferences as well.
In her first published series, Ready, Freddy!, Klein brings just the right amount of true-to-life humor and drama. She brings young readers a fresh voice, a great sense of humor, and a unique perspective on the trials and tribulations of first grader Freddy Thresher. Utterly authentic and drawn from real experience in the classroom, Abby Klein knows exactly what first graders are thinking.
She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband, two children, and three dogs. She thinks there's nothing better than a good book, and she loves reading aloud to children.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 15, 2008
Freddy and the other members of his first grade class discover clues left by the Pumpkin elf promising treats if they behave. As the class follows the clues they also get ready for a pumpkin decorating contest.
The Reddy Freddy series is extremely popular with the second graders in our school. The Mystery of the Pumpkin Elf is the 11th book in the series and follows Freddy as he interacts with other member of his class and works with his family to come up with the best pumpkin decorating idea ever. When Freddy leaves his completed pumpkin on the front porch it disappears and we watch him solve the mystery.
This book is most appealing to first and second grade readers and is written at a level that helps emerging readers move into chapter books. Given the limited vocabulary available to this group the story moves along nicely. The events and school children in Freddy's class are are familiar and instantly recognizable to any child who has attended public school.
The only review I was able to find was from Children's Literature. While they give the book a nice review and synopsis they don't indicate who would be most likely to enjoy the story so the review is marginally useful.
The Reddy Freddy series is extremely popular with the second graders in our school. The Mystery of the Pumpkin Elf is the 11th book in the series and follows Freddy as he interacts with other member of his class and works with his family to come up with the best pumpkin decorating idea ever. When Freddy leaves his completed pumpkin on the front porch it disappears and we watch him solve the mystery.
This book is most appealing to first and second grade readers and is written at a level that helps emerging readers move into chapter books. Given the limited vocabulary available to this group the story moves along nicely. The events and school children in Freddy's class are are familiar and instantly recognizable to any child who has attended public school.
The only review I was able to find was from Children's Literature. While they give the book a nice review and synopsis they don't indicate who would be most likely to enjoy the story so the review is marginally useful.
October 1, 2011
Dominic said: "I thought it was amazing. I wanted to keep reading it so much so I could find out what would happen. It was the best book of my entire life".
November 11, 2021
Fun not scary Halloween book. My 3rd grader loved it.
November 8, 2018
Genre: Mystery
Grade: 2nd-5th
Unique Characteristic: This book was such a fun read! The author got me hooked and I wanted to find out the mystery. I love short little chapter books, esp. mystery books for kids. I know so many kids who love mystery books and this is such a fun one. I love how Freddy books always seem to incorporate school in a fun way. This gives a great message to kids.
Grade: 2nd-5th
Unique Characteristic: This book was such a fun read! The author got me hooked and I wanted to find out the mystery. I love short little chapter books, esp. mystery books for kids. I know so many kids who love mystery books and this is such a fun one. I love how Freddy books always seem to incorporate school in a fun way. This gives a great message to kids.
July 21, 2017
Very cute. My 6 year loves these books and we are always hunting for them in the library.
April 2, 2021
Interesting
September 17, 2013
Read by: Aaron
Author: Abby Klein Illustrator: John McKinley
Genre: Mystery
Interest Level: PreK-3
Grade Level Equivalent: 2.8
Actually several mysteries in one, the beginning of the book is about the fictional pumpkin elf, a mischievous pumpkin-shape-headed elf that both creates chaos in the classroom as well as who leaves treats for boys and girls who are well behaved at school and at home. After being told of the pumpkin elf by the teacher, the children (including Freddy Thresher) do their best to behave, and upon returning to school the next day find the room in disarray due to the elf's visit. While cleaning up his mess, the students find a clue (which are notes in poetic form) that leads to another and another and, returning to their classroom, find the elf left them all pumpkins, which the class detemines they'll have a decorating contest with. That night, Freddy creates a shark pumpkin, which he puts on the porch, and it disappears shortly thereafter. Freddy and his mother begin investigating and Freddy determines that the neighbor's dog ate it. Though let down, Freddy is surprised when the pumpkin elf leaves an exact replica on his porch, and with which he takes second place in the contest. He's still happy, though, as he was given a carved pumpkin and personal note from the pumpkin elf. A perfect read for October and when nearing Halloween.
Author: Abby Klein Illustrator: John McKinley
Genre: Mystery
Interest Level: PreK-3
Grade Level Equivalent: 2.8
Actually several mysteries in one, the beginning of the book is about the fictional pumpkin elf, a mischievous pumpkin-shape-headed elf that both creates chaos in the classroom as well as who leaves treats for boys and girls who are well behaved at school and at home. After being told of the pumpkin elf by the teacher, the children (including Freddy Thresher) do their best to behave, and upon returning to school the next day find the room in disarray due to the elf's visit. While cleaning up his mess, the students find a clue (which are notes in poetic form) that leads to another and another and, returning to their classroom, find the elf left them all pumpkins, which the class detemines they'll have a decorating contest with. That night, Freddy creates a shark pumpkin, which he puts on the porch, and it disappears shortly thereafter. Freddy and his mother begin investigating and Freddy determines that the neighbor's dog ate it. Though let down, Freddy is surprised when the pumpkin elf leaves an exact replica on his porch, and with which he takes second place in the contest. He's still happy, though, as he was given a carved pumpkin and personal note from the pumpkin elf. A perfect read for October and when nearing Halloween.
November 17, 2011
This one was so much better than the first I read. The different characters weren't so extreme as before. And it wasn't so much about scaredy cat Freddy and Max being mean to him, but about Freddy having a mysterious pumpkin elf about and enjoying that.
February 4, 2009
That people need to work more on working together. I really liked this book a lot. You should read it sometime.
November 25, 2010
i loved it.
May 12, 2011
Youngest sat still while we wondered where Freddy's decorated pumpkin wandered off to. He's now ready for another Freddy adventure!
October 9, 2013
Not much of a mystery, but a very sweet and innocent story about a classroom pumpkin decorating contest. The Pumpkin Elf might make an appearance at our house!
April 27, 2014
The pumpkin elf left them lots of clues the last one told them to go back to the classroom because he left pumpkins for everyone a pumpkin in the class room.
December 19, 2015
Our 6 year old heard this in school and wanted his own copy. It is a chapter book and good for listening people read to him ... which btw is research based way to improve his academic successes.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews