Review by Booklist Review
This just-right picture book for fall is filled with fun facts and quirky characters to help familiarize emergent readers with the season. Evy is preoccupied with the feast waiting to sprout in her pumpkin patch, and she's so motivated to work hard toward her goal of a pumpkin treat that she misses all the wacky goings-on around her. The repeated question, What was Evy doing?, always appears with an illustration of Evy's progress in her garden, while on the facing page, whimsically literal happenings occur, such as the day autumn blew in with woolly sweaters, and colorful pullovers drift on the wind. A mixture of subtle and more obvious pumpkin references are creatively woven into the story to playfully guide readers through new concepts and draw connections about growing pumpkins in a garden. Such broadly funny pictures and the engaging question posed to the audience at every page-turn should make this an entertaining read-aloud for the whole classroom. A closing section with additional pumpkin facts and a couple of tasty recipes promotes even more learning.--Miller, Annie Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In author/agent Deak's kooky harvest-themed story, an overalls-clad girl named Evy doesn't have her head in the clouds, but rather in the soil. Cushman (Pigmares) shows Evy planting seeds, dressing a scarecrow, and harvesting vegetables while rambunctious farm animals frolic throughout the year: "The day the sheep picnicked on the neighbor's lawn... Evy didn't see a thing. (What was Evy doing?)" Not donkeys sailing through the sky nor Halloween festivities can distract Evy from her work: "When ghosts and goblins danced door-to-door all night long" (the ensemble includes a sheep dressed as a vampire, a pig in a mummy costume, and a horse witch), Evy is carrying the harvested vegetables indoors. Hard work and commitment pay off for the avid gardener, and readers should appreciate seeing her finally enjoy the fruits of her labor-in the form of pumpkin pie-with the animals. Ages 4-8. Agent: Erzsi Deak, Hen&ink. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Evy is up to something. Her distraction starts in the spring. She's so engrossed in her books and work that she overlooks the most unusual occurrences around her-cows parading in fancy hats, donkeys sailing across the sky, and sheep having a picnic. In summer, Evy doesn't notice the buckets literally falling from the sky or the animals playing badminton. In autumn, sweaters fall from above and animals stomp grapes. Page after page, the text asks, "What was Evy doing?" Attentive readers will pick up on the obvious clues, as the child is often depicted farming and researching pumpkins. In late autumn, all of the animals gather and Evy finally unveils her hard work: a huge pumpkin pie. The watercolor and ink illustrations feature abundant visual puns and incorporate pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns into the scenes, and the endpapers feature fun facts and recipes.-Laura Hunter, Mount Laurel Library, NJ (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A celebration of gardening and the harvest doesnt quite deliver a full-grown story.Evy is so preoccupied by gardening that she fails to notice a series of absurd, seasonally linked oddities taking place around her. A bevy of farm animals participates in these happenings, which include cows parading down the street in fancy hats that seem like Easter bonnets, donkeys sailing through the sky in sailboats, pigs dancing around a maypole, and chickens, rabbits and pigs playing badminton. Evy doesnt notice any of these things going on around her, and the repeated parenthetical phrase (What was Evy doing?) prompts readers to find her performing various gardening tasks from page to page. Ultimately, two wordless spreads show readers that Evy was preparing a big harvest feast, with what looks like a pumpkin pie as the main dish, but this culmination feels anticlimactic due to the lack of concluding text as well as the revealing title and cover art. A final page shows Evy looking ahead to next years planting and harvesting season. While certainly silly, the picture books appeal is undermined by its lack of cohesion, and the comical watercolor-and-ink illustrations dont add enough narrative content to bolster the repetitive text.Other, stronger picture books on this theme abound. (recipes, pumpkin facts) (Picture book. 2-4) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
