How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? - by Wendell Minor

Book Synopsis

Award-winning artist Wendell Minor celebrates America's love for giant pumpkins alongside famous American landmarks and landscapes

Every year, giant pumpkin contests take place at fairs across the country--the 2012 record-holder weighed over a ton! The latest craze is to carve the most enormous pumpkins into racing boats. But what's next? Why not think really big? Award-winning artist Wendell Minor does just that as he imagines larger-than-life pumpkins decorating some of America's favorite places--as immense as the Capitol dome, Mount Rushmore, the Brooklyn Bridge, even the Grand Canyon! This celebration of famous landmarks and landscapes plays with concepts of size and scale and is full of fun facts.

"Minor illustrates this simple text with lush, rich paintings that portray resplendent autumn scenes...This visually stunning book is sure to be a favorite autumn read-aloud."--School Library Journal

"A marvelous example of the way seasonal books can enhance the excitement surrounding a holiday."--Booklist

Review Quotes

"Quickly takes a turn for the fantastical as Minor imaginatively answers the title question...An appended list of these monuments and attractions gives their states and a brief informative blurb about each one...The autumnal orange of the pumpkins stands out...their full-page dimensions well suited for sharing this book with a group."--School Library Journal

"Minor imagines...JUMBO pumpkins, placing each in a signature American scene for a bit of geographical literacy and a good deal of juxtapositional fun. The artist's proven talent for classic landscapes here gets a wink with the STUPENDOUS jack-o'-lanterns plomping their grinning selves down like they owned the place."--The Horn Book

"After introducing giant pumpkins and giant pumpkin festivals, Minor asks, 'What can you do with an ENORMOUS pumpkin?' He offers a number of memorable answers (some factual, others fanciful) based on real sites in America and amplified by his wonderfully visual imagination...Kids will enjoy the increasing absurdity as much as the challenge of guessing the locations pictured. A concluding two-page spread names the 14 sites depicted and gives a little information about each one. Minor's watercolor-and-gouache paintings are well composed, richly colored, and (best of all) just plain fun. With a text that asks leading questions, this picture book makes a fine, imaginative read-aloud choice."--Booklist

"Beautifully illustrated book...In addition to enjoying Minor's gouache and watercolor illustrations, readers are provided with fun facts about over a dozen places in the United States...Would also provide a useful introduction to synonyms, sprinkling words like 'enormous, ' 'gigantic, ' 'jumbo, ' 'immense, ' and 'colossal' throughout the text."--Library Media Connection

About the Author

Wendell Minor (www.minorart.com) has traveled throughout the United States to research art for over fifty award-winning picture books, which include America the Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates, Look to the Stars by Buzz Aldrin, The Wolves Are Back by Jean Craighead George, and his own Yankee Doodle America and My Farm Friends. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Eric Carle Museum, and the Library of Congress. He lives in Washington, Connecticut.