When Pumpkins Fly

by Margaret Lawrence (Author) Amiel Sandland (Illustrator)

When Pumpkins Fly
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

The air is cold, the nights are long, and Halloween is just around the corner. This is the time of year when pumpkins fly! In the remote, fly-in community of Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, the last cargo flight of October brings some strange orange guests for the children. Seeing a pumpkin for the first time, the local kids eagerly carve and light their first jack-o-lantern. But when everyone adjourns to the community hall for the Halloween dance, the pumpkin is left alone outside. The land around Sanikiluaq is home to many spirits who love to cause mischief, especially this time of year. But what would a land spirit do with a pumpkin?

This adorable book gives young readers a window into how Halloween is celebrated in an Arctic Inuit community, incorporating contemporary celebrations and Inuit folklore.

Select format:
Hardcover
$16.95

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Kirkus

Far from your everyday Halloween tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Copyright 2020 Kirkus Reviews, LLC Used with permission.

ALA/Booklist

This simple account of how Halloween has been imported (or exported) into the Inuit community in Nunavut should give readers pause to wonder and ask questions about the manner and tenacity of other traditions. When Pumpkins Fly should be given its place on the shelf of books about celebrations.

Copyright 2020 Booklist, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

This brief, upbeat Canadian import sets a familiar holiday against a cultural backdrop that rarely sees such fare in books. Young readers south of the Arctic will enjoy seeing how the holiday plays out in the far north, where pumpkins do not grow; those for whom Arctic Halloweens are commonplace will appreciate a story that includes their own customs in the celebration... Far from your everyday Halloween tale.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781772272499
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Inhabit Media
Publication date
September 08, 2020
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV017030 - Juvenile Fiction | Holidays & Celebrations | Halloween
JUV030120 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | Polar Regions
JUV074000 - Juvenile Fiction | Diversity & Multicultural
Library of Congress categories
Picture books
Halloween
Pumpkins
Nunavut
Sanikiluaq

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