By Jan Thomas
HarperCollins, $9.99, 34 pages

What better combination to catch the attention of young children than a duck, a pig, a mouse and a pumpkin?  Jan Thomas uses this combination to amuse children with Pumpkin Trouble.

“I can’t wait to show Pig and Mouse my jack-o’-lantern!”

Though especially appropriate at Halloween, this story is not limited just to the holiday, since children will enjoy it any time of the year.  Beautifully detailed color pictures tell the story even before one reads the words, sure to keep the little ones turning the pages repeatedly to laugh again.
Duck finds a pumpkin.  As he is carving it into a jack-‘o-lantern, he falls into it.  Getting upright, he wanders around with the pumpkin covering his head and body.  Pig and mouse see him, look afraid, and run away, followed by the “pumpkin with legs.”  They see duck after he smashes into the barn, only to lose him again with duck trapped inside another pumpkin.

When the words of the book tell what duck, pig, and mouse are actually saying, the full plot of this funny story will have children wanting to hear it or read it for themselves over and over again.

Reviewed by Angie Mangino