Old MacPumpkin Had a Farm (Reimagined Rhymes)

Old MacPumpkin rolls across her farm on her tractor, pulling a wagon full of pumpkins. On the farm, readers see chickens, a cow, a horse, a sheep, a goat, and a dog, the usual farm animals, but the text gives readers a hint that this might be a bit unusual with a refrain of Eek! Ahh! Eek! Ahh! and Ohhh!, rather than the familiar one kids will expect. On her farm, Old MacPumpkin has a black cat with yellow eyes. Hmmm. That’s not too strange. The next turn shows a spider on the farm. That’s pretty normal. Then we see a bat. Not unheard of on a farm. But a SKELETON driving the tractor? That’s strange. And things just get stranger as readers visit this very Halloweeny farm.

Author Katrina Charman has written a cute text perfect for reading on cool autumn evenings leading up to Halloween. The real star of the show, though, is the charming illustrations by Georgie Birkett. She uses bright primary colors that she cleverly darkens as the book becomes scarier (it is not too scary for little listeners, though), perfectly suiting the mood of the story. This is a fun fall read for the littlest of listeners.