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Ten Orange Pumpkins

Ten Orange Pumpkins: a Counting Book
by Stephen Savage
Dial, 2013.  Unpaged. Picture Book

     What a delight! Stephen Savage's glorious graphics highlight the nursery rhyme of a tale that begins with 10 pumpkins that get picked off (you'll excuse the expression) one at a time until only a jack o'lantern is left. One makes a scarecrow's head; one bounces of the truck into a pond full of alligators; one is carried off by skeleton pirates and another by a screech owl against the cold white moon. Pound for pound, Stephen Savage's traditional and digital pictures are the best in the business.  All will be relieved to learn that no pumpkins were harmed in the making of this book. Best new book of the Halloween season in my not-that-humble opinion.

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