Pumpkin Moon is a story where the everyday meets the supernatural.
Four children sit around the table at home, carving pumpkins and making costumes for October 31st – Halloween – which they cheerfully show to their parents. The festive mood is conveyed with warmth and childlike sincerity, yet with a hint of approaching change. After midnight, hundreds of pumpkins, joined by witches, ghosts, skeletons, and wooden figures, come to life and march through the forest toward the town centre. It’s time to celebrate! Although everyone is welcome, the townspeople react more with fear and flight than joy or curiosity. Here, the author gently touches on the idea that the unknown often frightens more than it fascinates – even when it’s harmless.
Tim Preston’s Pumpkin Moon contains limited text, but it successfully portrays how reality meets magic, partly reflecting children’s own ideas of what the world of Halloween looks like. The action takes place in a small American town – evident from the use of the American word “downtown”. The motion and rhythm of the story are conveyed primarily through Simon Bartram’s remarkable illustrations, well known from his earlier work Man on the Moon. The illustrator uses gouache and acrylic paint to capture light and deep shadow, combined with an autumnal palette, creating warmth and spookiness. His visual style recalls classic British illustrators of the 1960s – expressive, slightly grotesque, yet deeply emotional. The characters’ faces resemble dolls and might be unsettling for readers under five. However, the limited vocabulary and large font make it helpful for early readers.
Preston and Bartram create a glimpse of a supernatural party that lingers long after pages are turned—an atmospheric treat that invites children not to fear the shadows.
The Stats:
- Title: Pumpkin Moon
- Author and Illustrator: Tim Preston & Simon Bartram
- ISBN: 1-84011-230-1
- Publication Date: 2003
- Page Count: 32
- Publisher: Templar Publishing
- Recommended age: 4-8
- Categories/Topic: Hallowe’en, family, supernatural, jack-o’-lanterns
Where to Find it:
- Buy on: Amazon
- Read the “Pumpkin Moon” review on Kirkus or Publishers Weekly
