Pumpkin Bunch
By Peter E. Tucker
Illustrations by MikeMotz.com
Copyright © 2008
$ 26.90 Hard cover
$ 16.30 Paperback
$ 5.00 Download
32 pages full color
ISBN: 978-0-615-21675-1
All of the pumpkins in Pumpkins Ville are disappearing and the pumpkin farmers are worried about not being able to support their families because unless they find the pumpkin thieves, they will have no crops for sale. Lilly overhears her father and is determined to do something to help him capture the pumpkin thieves. So, Lilly waits until her family has fallen asleep and then sneaks out of the house and goes down to the pond where the largest pumpkins are to wait for the pumpkin thieves. Her plan is to wait until they show up and then scream for her father to come and catch them.
Lilly began to feel very sleepy. Snuggling up next to the pumpkin, she had almost fallen asleep when, suddenly, the huge pumpkin began moving and shaking back and forth. Lilly looked around. No one was there, just she and the pumpkin. Shaking faster and faster, it started sinking into the ground! Lilly quickly grabbed the pumpkin stem and, as she did, the pumpkin started to fall into the earth. She held tightly; she was not going to let it go. Down they both went. Deeper and deeper into the Earth they fell. Faster and faster they both fell. Then, all of a sudden, they were slowly falling through a bright blue sky. They landed on a mound of hay, surrounded by tall grass, in a field. The sun shined above and the sky was a deep blue. Lilly looked around and saw two pumpkins that appeared to be running away from her. These pumpkins had legs, arms and faces! They were trying to get away.
Lilly had just fallen into Pumpkin Bunch Land, where the residents are pumpkins, and they live in houses that look like pumpkins, and they are the ones who are stealing Lilly’s father’s pumpkins. One of the pumpkin people, JayJay, who was trying to run away after Lilly fell through the sky, stops when Lilly asks him to and becomes her guide to Pumpkin Bunch Land. Lilly and JayJay set off to find the King of Pumpkin Bunch Land, but JayJay tells her they must hide from the Jaspers or there will be pumpkins to pay. The Jaspers turn out to be giant rats who have taken over Pumpkin Bunch Land and have enslaved the pumpkin people. If the people do not provide fresh pumpkins for the Jaspers on a daily basis, the Jaspers will eat them. When Lilly meets the King, she is hailed as Princess Lilly Pad of whom it was foretold that she would fall from the sky to save their kingdom.
The King sat in an enormous chair made of pumpkin and began to tell Lilly about how it was written that a princess would fall from the sky and save Pumpkin Bunch Land. He said to Lilly, “You must find the four-leaf clover, pluck it from the ground, and save it in your pocket. When you do this, you will have the powers of the Wizard. It is also written that you will be able to restore the kingdom back to the throne, but you cannot look the Wizard in the eyes. If you do, he will know what you are doing and take the magic from you. Lilly, you must overtake the Wizard without him knowing.”
Lilly chooses JayJay as her consort, and they go off in search of the four-leaf clover and the wizard so they can take back the King’s wand. Lilly and JayJay have to overcome many obstacles, including being attacked by Jaspers, in order to free the kingdom of Pumpkin Bunch Land.
I enjoyed the underlying tale of Pumpkin Bunch
Pumpkin Bunch
Hello, yes not only the tale of pumpkin bunch is for the read to me as a parent or grandparent it is also for the first time readers. And really grabs there imagination. That is what it designed to do. I’ve had reports of children using pumpkin bunch for there 1st book report in elementary school. And that is what it’s all about. Really grabs my hart.
Thank You So Much , Peter
Peter,
While I appreciate what you are saying in the above, and it is very gratifying for you as an author to have your book used as a book report in elementary school, first time readers, or learn to read books are a separate category. The general parameters for picture books are 500-1,000 words, with most publishers/editors trying to keep them at the 500 word level and beginning readers books are to contain short sentences and limited vocabulary with a length of 500-1,500 words. Pumpkin Bunch is over 5,000 words which puts it more into the read-to-me category of story. You also have over 700 distinct words which are used in the story, which is an incredibly high number of distinct words for a first reader/learn to read book.
Yes, after reading it with a parent or grandparent many times, often times children will use a book they love to have read to them to learn reading on their own because they know the story well, and can use this knowledge to help them understand the sequence of letters which form the words. Writing for children, however, is a very specific market and within that market you have picture books, beginning readers, chapter books, middle grade novels, and upper middle grade novels, all of which have their own specific parameters and guidelines associated with them.
With the number and size of the pictures, and the use of anthropomorphic characters, this puts Pumpkin Bunch into the Picture Book/Beginning Reader categories vs. the Chapter Books category, despite the chaptering within the book.
I’m glad that you have received such positive feedback on your book and wish you the best success in your future endeavors.
Pumpkin Bunch is also a series of five books; Book two is being created now and will be released soon. Thank you so much for your review it means so much, Peter
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