Christopher Pumpkin

by Sue Hendra, Paul Linnet, Nick East (Illustrator)

Fans of Room on the Broom and How to Catch a Monster will love this creepy-cute tale about one pumpkin who must learn to embrace his differences when he realizes he's unlike the other pumpkins. This oversized board book is perfect for Halloween!

Christopher Pumpkin is not like all the other evil pumpkin spawn of the wicked old witch. Christopher prefers cupcakes and hugs to cobwebs and slugs, unlike the rest of the pumpkin brood.

But when the creepy clan starts planning the SCARIEST Halloween party ever, Christopher's cheerful ideas for décor and treats cause a bit of a stir. Can he find a way to scare everyone and stay true to himself?

Genres: Picture Books, Halloween, Holiday, Childrens, Storytime, Fiction, Humor

32 pages, Hardcover

Published July 28, 2020

Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

The witch raised her wand for one final go.
There were SPARKLES and GLITTER...

A creepy old witch wants to throw a party - the biggest and bestest and scariest party yet.

But that's far too much for one old witch to do. So she brings a few pumpkins to life to help, like:

Gnarly, Grizzley, Grunty, Roar, Snaggletooth, Stink Face...

Annnnd....Christopher Pumpkin?

Christopher Pumpkin is not like the others.

He's sweet, he likes pink and most of all, he has no instinct for scaring.

The old witch tells Christopher Pumpkin that he MUST do something scary or she'll turn him back into a regular pumpkin.

And so...Christopher Pumpkin decides to come up with a plan. A scary plan. One that might even send the scary witch running in fear!

Awww! this book was so freaking cute.

The plot was short but really well executed - the being-true-to-yourself vs following-everyone's-expectations.

I loved how Christopher Pumpkin loved pink cupcakes and unicorns and wasn't ashamed to bake and decorate the way he wanted to.

The illustrations were spot on - the emotions were really well drawn and the color choice was perfect.

This was hands down, one of the top 10 cutest books of the year.

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[Tucker Almengor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to Alex at Little Brown Books for Young Readers for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

It's a dark and stormy night. A witch is preparing her castle for a scary halloween party but she needs some help. So she enchants a few pumpkins to help her.

One of those pumpkins, Christopher Pumpkin, is not like the rest. He's all smiles and full of joy.

I really enjoyed this picture book. I will admit it took me a bit to suspend my inner critic to read this. I mean this is a picture book so I had take it with a grain of salt. Which was hard.

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[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The witch of Spooksville needs help preparing for her big scary party, so brings a set of pumpkins to life. Something goes a bit wrong with the last one, though: instead of all things ghoulish, Christopher Pumpkin loves all things fun. He bakes cupcakes instead of stirring gross potions and strums a blue ukulele instead of inducing screams. The witch threatens to turn him into soup if he can’t be scary. The plan he comes up with is the icing on the cake of a sweet, funny book delivered in rhyming couplets. Good for helping kids think about stereotypes and how we treat those who don’t fit in.

[stevie jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really cute.

A small, ordinary, pumpkin named Christopher tries his hardest to be “scary”.

[MeganRuth - Alohamora Open a Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun! Loved the rhyming. Loved the twist. Loved how adorable and likable Christopher P was even though he was unique.

Such a fun and creative "monster/spooky" story. This is one to purchase for sure.

[Les Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fan of room on a broom this book didn’t let me down. Very enjoyable

[Nena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christopher Pumpkin is a cute little pumpkin which likes all things fun. He loves colors, he is different from the other pumpkins and he enjoys the little and delightful moments as well. One day the bad witch threatened him to change his kind character, to become scarrier than his current image. But... Christopher is such a brave little pumpkin. Read this book aloud to find out what does the little pumpkin did. 🧡
I really really love it. Happy Halloween guys🎃

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christopher Pumpkin! By Sue Hendra and Paul Linnett, illustrated by Nick East. PICTURE BOOK. Little Brown, 2019. $18. 9780316427555

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

A witch is busy getting ready for her ghastly party, so she conjures for pumpkin minions to help her. The last pumpkin, however, is Christopher – who has very different ideas of what makes a good party. But perhaps his way is what would be truly scary for ghoulish guests.

Delightful! A great mix of Halloween creepy with a surprise twist end. It has been a while since I’ve seen a truly unique new Halloween book.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...

[Allia Krassi · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my book review I decided to read a book themed for Halloween Christopher pumpkin is a book about a wicked witch who decides she needs minions to help plan the most spookiest Halloween party. She spells up a couple of pumpkins and decided she needed one more the last pumpkin was a little different than the others. As the pumpkins started decorating the house very scary the one pumpkin Christopher said she liked all things funny and wasn’t that well at making scary decorations. Christopher pumpkin was different than the others and the witch wasn’t very nice to him nor the other pumpkins the witch gave him one last chance to help make the party scary. The other pumpkins didn’t believe it until the day of the party Christopher pumpkin used his own abilities and his personality to decorate the house into everyone surprise it was super scary end it turns out the witch needed Christopher pumpkin more than she knew.

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A witch decides she needs help to throw the biggest and best Halloween party.
She creates some pumpkins to help her with the special preparations.
But one pumpkin has gone wrong, instead of embracing and loving all things spooky and ghoulish he is a different kind of pumpkin, he is more into pink sparkles, cupcakes and glitter.
He wants the part to be happy not scary.
This angers the witch who threatens to turn poor Christopher into pumpkin soup unless he can mend his ways and be spooky like the rest.
So Christopher stays up all night to try and come up with a plan...
A sweet, spooky, fun Halloween read for toddlers with a message of just being yourself and accepting and being comfortable with your differences.
Loved reading this aloud with my youngest nephew.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meet Christopher Pumpkin - the Halloween pumpkin who doesn't want to be scary! A funny rhyming story from the authors of Supertato and the creators of Simon Sock.

Christopher Pumpkin is delighted to be magicked to life by a witch - until he discovers she wants him and the other pumpkins to get her creepy castle ready for the spookiest party ever! Chris just can't bring himself to hang cobwebs and cook curried slugs - he's much more into bunting and fairy cakes!

A delightful story about blazing your own trail, perfect for reading aloud!

[Raven Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

While we have had the "being different is okay" story, this one is done a tad differently making it fresh. Christopher is a pumpkin created by a witch who (along with other pumpkins) to do all the dirty work and heavy lifting to get ready for the witches spooky Halloween party. However, Christopher would rather put up bunting then spiderwebs. He is given on more chance (or leave) to help out. Will Christopher prove he can be scary? Told in the Night Before Christmas format, this is a story for the quirky kid in all of us.

[Jason Dillingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute! I found this book because of a friend and I bought it online as soon as I could. I’d basically memorized the storyline and was sharing my excitement about the book before having read it personally.

It finally arrived in the mail and I’m SO glad I bought it! It’s so cute and fun! I love the illustrations and I love the message that reflects upon differences being strengths, rather than weaknesses. I also love Christopher P’s style. If you’re looking for a silly spooky story with an encouraging message for the holiday season, I highly recommend this one.

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A spooky story about one pumpkin who is different from all the others. Christopher Pumpkin tries to help the witch with her scary party but his sense of fun is far different from everyone else’s.

He manages to pull off the scariest party decor but managed to stay true to himself. This is an important message for children to learn as well, that even through everyone is different, our own views and ideas can still lead us to achieving a common goal!

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The witch of Spooksville needs help getting ready for her party, so she brings pumpkins to life- but something goes horribly wrong with the last one, and instead of conjuring something spooky or ghastly, she makes Christopher. Christopher loves glitter, unicorns, and cupcakes. Christopher is given an ultimatum: be spooky or be turned into soup.

This was so cute. My kiddos are going to love it for Book-tober. I can already hear their delighted squeals.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic illustrations and fun rhyming text tell the story of a witch who's throwing a party and wants everything to be perfectly scary. She's completely overwhelmed with all their is to do so she spells a few pumpkins to animate and help out. Christopher Pumpkin likes all things pretty and just doesn't fit in. Can he find a way to be scary enough that the witch won't turn him into a pumpkin instead??

A fantastic group read aloud!

[emsonthebooks_again · Rating 5 out of 5]

📚 Book Review 📚

This is a cracking little story, written in rhyme, which is perfect for young children especially at this time of year!

I read this today to my class of 6 year olds and not only did they enjoy it, but many of them wanted to read it independently. The illustrations accompany this seasonal story perfectly 🎃

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The witch was having a Halloween Party, but she needed help. She used her wand on six pumpkins
and they all ugly and scary. But she wanted on more and out popped Christopher Pumpkin, he liked everything fun and happy with kindness and warmth from within. The witch and the ugly pumpkins didn't like him at all. Read the book and find out how the party went.

[Lexi Skyles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a good book to get kids in the halloween spirit. It relates to kids that don't fit in at school. I think that is a message that kids can get from this book. It is a pretty easy read with simple words so I would say first graders could read this.

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooh, I have a new Halloween read aloud. Christopher Pumpkin has great rhythm and rhyme to the story. It has fantastic illustrations and the story has a good message, be yourself and it will all work out.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

A witch inadvertently brings to life a Jack-O’-Lantern who is happy instead of scary.

"Hello! I’m Christopher Pumpkin. I like all things fun. I’m so happy to be here. Group hug, everyone?"

The text is in rhyming couplets, which gets a bit tedious.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm always on the lookout for non-spooky Halloween books for my younger students and this one was a blast. Christopher is not like the other spooky pumpkins, and his contribution to the scary Halloween party shows that he is creative and true to his own pumpkin self. Cute book-

[Jody Cornelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the art and the rhyming, but the spreads can be a little busy. Also not a big fan of the font picked (I had a harder time reading it personally) but the book as a whole is a nice one about being yourself and being proud of who you are.

[Holly Witheford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book children adored it when reading it in front of the class and have asked for this book time and time again

[Isobel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good to use to introduce children to noun phrases.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very cute and adorable illustrations. Not at all creepy or scary.
But not for me. The sing song rhyme is not my thing.
I found it hard to read aloud to class. Rhyme seemed forced at times.

[Morgan Echtenkamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a favorite at our house this year! It will be part of our regular fall rotation. A fun story with a great message!

[Jack & · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good bedtime story book especially around Halloween time. A fun read with lots of Halloween fun.

[Trumpet]

It's rubbish

[Holli Schoch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Halloween kids book!!