Winnie's Amazing Pumpkin by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
| Winnie's Amazing Pumpkin by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Keith Dudhnath
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| Summary: A delightful tale of a vegetable-loving witch whose magic is just a little bit too successful. The story is great, and Korky Paul's detailed and thrilling illustrations make it a joy to read. Recommended. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: September 2009 |
| Publisher: OUP Oxford | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0192729088 | |
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Winnie the Witch loves vegetables, especially pumpkins. It's a hassle bringing them back from the market on her broomstick though, so she decides to grow her own at home. It all takes far too long, so she turns to magic to help her, but it works just a little too well.
Winnie's Amazing Pumpkin is bristling with life, quirkiness and excitement. It's a fun romp that will grip you from the first page. There's something particularly amusing about a witch who loves vegetables - some children may well prefer eye of newt to spinach, but Winnie's passion for vegetables is infectious. Not only does the story lightly touch on the story of Cinderella in passing, but it conjours up the feeling of other fairy tales along the way. It's familiar and top quality, whilst also being original and unexpected.
As great as the story is, it's Korky Paul's illustrations that are the star of the show. Every page is an utter delight to pore over - there's so much going on, so much detail. A ramshackle witch's house perfectly suits the illustrative style, particularly with spooky eyes shining out from cupboards, spiders sitting on ladles and snakes poking their heads out of cauldrons of radishes. Winnie's cat is a great unsung character too.
It's ideal for book fans just on the cusp of being able to read themselves: the story is slightly more lengthy than the average picture book, and the detailed pictures reward the patience of discovering them at length. Such is the quality that it won't be above the heads of slightly younger children either. It would also make for great reading at Halloween - it touches all the right buttons, but without being unnecessarily scary for the little ones. Recommended.
My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.
As well as checking out previous books in the Winnie the Witch series, take a look at Don't Read This Book! by Jill Lewis and Deborah Allwright, which has a similar sense of zany fun.
Winnie's Amazing Pumpkin by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul is in the Top Ten Picture Books For Halloween.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Winnie's Amazing Pumpkin by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul at Amazon.com.
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