Pumpkin Island by Arthur Geisert (Picture Book Review)

Pumpkin Island

by Arthur Geisert
Published by Enchanted Lion Books
on September 4, 2018
Genre: Children's, Picture Books

Length: 40 pages

Ages: 4 - 8 years

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository


Synopsis:
Drawn from life, Arthur Geisert's Pumpkin Island is the fantastical story of a real-life town brought to a halt by a profusion of pumpkins.
Elkader, Iowa is the perfect picture of small-town life--that is, until the pumpkins arrive. One pumpkin? Fine. Two pumpkins? Okay. But with pumpkins growing around every street corner, and over every building, what's a town to do? In these pages, Geisert imagines the town of Elkador overrun by the pumpkins that grow on Pumpkin Island, which sits in the Turkey River, right outside his kitchen window.Our Thoughts:

This fun story is about a real-life town that is overrun by growing pumpkins after one is washed downriver, smashes on an island, and then grows from there into the nearby town. The unruly vines grow up a bridge, over the street, up the sides of buildings, and wherever they can, leaving new pumpkins all over the place! Soon, the town is overrun with excess pumpkins! 

Luckily, it's almost Halloween and the townspeople find many, many uses for the pumpkins. They build little houses and boats, have pumpkin smashing fights, and decorate every surface of town. And when Halloween arrives, they carve them all into Jack-o-lanterns and have the biggest celebration of all! 

Pumpkin Island is a sort of cozy read that is perfect for autumn and the Halloween holiday. The illustrations are detailed and busy, giving the reader plenty to look at. I did think some of the illustrations were a little disproportionate but still enjoyed the overall story.

Follow