Pumpkin Town! (or, Nothing Is Better and Worse than Pumpkins) Book

One pumpkin makes a tasty pie. Two pumpkins can be carved into grinning jack-o’-lanterns, and a couple hundred more make for a decent pumpkin patch. Gather one thousand pumpkins and you’ll have a grand fall festival.
But what happens when a town has an accidental abundance of pumpkins?

What do José and his brothers do with a mountain of pumpkins? An EXPLOSION of pumpkins? Step into Pumpkin Town and see!

Children's Literature

What a fabulous assortment of pumpkins Jose and his family grow, from Jack-Be-Littles and Happy Jacks to the Big Moons "too large for five boys to roll." In the fall, after the pumpkins are trucked away, the family saves some seeds, "only the best," however. The rest they have always tossed over the edge of a field overlooking town. But one windy October day, the seeds are carried down into the town, onto thatched roofs, and into gardens. Spring brings the shock of vines and fruit that grow and grow, overwhelming the town. Seeing this from their mountain top, Jose and his brothers feel responsible. That night, they work until they have neatly collected all the vines and pumpkins. The pumpkins are sold for a lot of money. In gratitude, the townspeople give them five large, tasty watermelons, with seeds. Bernasconi uses a variety of found objects and bits of his own collaged original art to visualize the action in lively comic style. The pumpkin vines go about their climbing with esthetic delicacy, but there is nothing delicate about the huge piles of pumpkins they produce. The family are typical farm folk, with round heads and eyes, odd noses, and flat faces, while the buildings of farm and town are loosely built shacks. The paper jacket depicts an immense wave of hovering pumpkins, but the completely different cover hints of the ending to come.