I like this twist on the Ugly Duckling as a way to transition from Halloween to Thanksgiving. OK, and I also just loved how my youngest spent the whole day roaming around shouting, "Oh My Gosh! I'm a Squash!" when we read it.

I was not expecting this to be a holiday story. The rhymes were quite fun even though the cadence was a bit harsh, and the story was fun. The illustrations match perfectly and help make the surprise ending all that much better.
+21 #Holidayread ( )

"I am the ugly pumpkin, / as you can plainly see. / Of one hundred thousand pumpkins, none are quite like me." And so begins this rhyming tale of a disconsolate squash who imagines that he is an ugly pumpkin, and becomes progressively more dejected when no one selects him as jack-o-lantern material at Halloween. Then he discovers a garden of other squashes, realizes who he is and settles in for a happy Thanksgiving feast with his new friends...

Clearly inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy-tale, The Ugly Duckling, in which a swan imagines he is an unusual duck, The Ugly Pumpkin is a fun little fall picture-book, including both Halloween and Thanksgiving themes. The text reads fairly well, and the boldly colorful artwork, created using cut-paper, charcoal and pencil, is eye-catching. All in all, this would make an excellent read-aloud selection for an autumn-themed story-time, although I wasn't sure just what to make of the story conclusion. Given that pumpkins are destined to be used by others as jack-o-lanterns in this story, it seemed somehow odd that squash, rather than being destined to be used as food, are instead the consumers of a feast. No doubt it wouldn't have made a very happy ending for the main character to be made into pie or soup. Leaving aside the question of the ending, this is one I would recommend to those seeking pumpkin-themed picture-books for this time of year. ( )

Really good.

This is a fun read aloud for pre-k and kindergarten students around the time of Halloween and Thanksgiving. The story is about a lonely pumpkin who nobody wants. He just doesn’t seem to match with any of the other pumpkins, and the trees laugh at him for being different, so the Ugly Pumpkin wanders off to take shelter in a garden. The next day the Ugly Pumpkin realized that he was not a pumpkin at all . . . he was a squash. The message of the story is that you are not always going to fit in or find your group the first time around, but eventually things will work themselves out and you will find where you fit.

In my opinion, I thought this was a great book for young children because of good use of poetic language and the clear illustrations. The story was told through rhyming which helps the reader to make a read aloud more exciting and it is easier for children to read when they have a beat to follow. In the beginning the narrator said, “A skeleton came for pumpkins one bright and crispy day. I asked if I could get a ride . . . He laughed and said: NO WAY!” Form the text and the illustrations one can see that the pumpkin is just getting more sad and lonely as the story goes on. However, when he finds himself in a garden the reader can infer that things must start looking up soon because he is at his utmost low point and there are pictures of squash all around him. The Ugly Pumpkin has a very big smile in the end of the story when he realizes, “Oh my gosh I’m a squash” and find his fit. Again, the illustrations help with the mood of the story and the poetic text makes for a fun and smooth reading which is why I would recommend this book. ( )