I have been meaning to do a full review of this book all month, and now Halloween has come and gone! No worries, *The Ugly Pumpkin* (by David Horowitz) is an even better Thanksgiving book (and it lets the kids hold on to Halloween a little longer).

*The Ugly Pumpkin* has become a Fall staple in my family, and, despite my general annoyance with the overuse of classical plots in children's publishing, one of my very favorite children's books. The protagonist's concluding sentence - the book's punchline - has been a part of my family's vocabulary for several years now, and I have no doubt my grandchildren will be repeating it one day.

We even carve squash as well as pumpkins each October in honor of the book's main character.

I can see why David Horowitz would be bewildered by the attention this book, of all his creations, has received. As for me, it's worth reading the book just to get to the perfectly comical restatement of the age-old moral of this fairy tale.

Once you've read it, I've no doubt *The Ugly Pumpkin* will be a mainstay in your family as well .

To hear my reading of the book, click HERE:

For more info on the book, including how to purchase, see http://www.horowitzdave.com/uglypumpkin.html.

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Note 1: Dave Horowitz is the author of *many* wonderful and wonderfully illustrated children's books (his colorful, simple drawings are easy for the kids to relate to and *imitate*). His latest book, Emergency Monster Squad, is about a three-eyed furry blue EMT (Dave is an EMT himself) and contains accurate medical equipment in the illustrations and a glossary at the back. Like all of Dave's books, it also contains a delightful little surprise or two (hint: Kraken Eggs - tee hee). Here's a link to a reading of Emergency Monster Squad by Dave Horowitz, the man himself.

You should play it for your students/children as part of your Literacy Curricula, so they improve their scientific literacy and get an introduction to frontline *first responders*. If you hang on through the Question and Answer, Dave also reads The Ugly Pumpkin.

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Note 2: I do not know David Horowitz personally - just passing on one of my and my kids' faves.