The Pumpkin Fair by Eve Bunting Reviewed by Meghan Caldarera

The Pumpkin Fair is a fun book with great illustrations. It is about a little girl who goes to a pumpkin fair where she enters her home grown pumpkin in the contest. The pumpkin is very special to the little girl. It has little spots all over it and is not the best looking pumpkin ever seen. She calls them beauty spots, but the boy next door calls them warts. While at the Pumpkin Fair there is a big parade and pumpkin festivities, like, pumpkin bowling, pumpkin tosses, pumpkin juggling, etc. Of course there is all sorts of yummy pumpkin treats for the fair goers to eat like pumpkin pie! After all the fun, it comes time to pick a winner...the little girl is sure her pumpkin won't win. She thinks that there are bigger and pretty pumpkins there to take the ribbon, but, in her heart she says her pumpkin is very special in its own way. To her surprise her pumpkin wins!!! "It is the best-loved pumpkin at the fair, its the best loved pumpkin anywhere." The moral of this story is so warm and sweet it shows that everything is special in its own way. It shows we all come in different sizes and shapes, but that we are all special.
After reading this book all I could do was smile. I think it is a great book to read at Halloween time and have students design their own pumpkins in class. As a class we can talk about how each pumpkin is special in its own way just as people are special in their own way. Also talk about how we all look different, but we are all special!!