Spookley

The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin

Written by Joe Troiano

Illustrated by Susan Banta

Genre: Fantasy

Grade Level: Pre-K – First

 

Have you ever been told that you were different? Have you felt left out because you couldn’t do what everyone else was doing? In this pumpkin patch all the pumpkins are round and enjoy rolling around the field, except for one pumpkin, Spookley. Spookley is the odd pumpkin; he is square and is unable to roll around with ease like the others. That is until one night when Spookley’s flat edges come in handy and saves many of the other pumpkins in the patch.

            The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin begins in the pumpkin patch where Spookley was “hatched”. Spookley quickly notices he is different, every other pumpkin in the patch as curves, and he had edges. He wasn’t round like his friends, but he was square. Being square disabled Spookley from rolling around the patch; while all of his friends were having fun Spookley sat there watching. Then the night before Halloween a storm approached the farm, the winds were strong and snapped the vines of the pumpkins in the patch. The pumpkins whose vines gave away rolled around without control, hitting and bashing into one another. Spookley watched in fright, until the fence gave away and some of the pumpkins rolled away. Spookley was strong and he was able to move himself into the hole in the fence, which stopped any of the other pumpkins from rolling into the bay. The other pumpkins exclaimed that Spookley had saved the day. The next morning the farmer tended his crop, moving all of the pumpkins, he saw what was blocking the hole in the fence, a bruised, square Spookley. The farmer knew just then that Spookley’s seeds were special and the next year those seeds filled his patch. From then on the patch was filled with odd pumpkins, some red, others blue, some flat, triangular, and some perfectly square. At the end of the story the other notes “…maybe one day we will all discover – you can’t judge a book, or a pumpkin…by it’s cover.”

            Joe Troiano’s The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin is a good children’s book. This book is very well-written and the illustrations add to the verses throughout the story. Joe Troiano has a strong sense of the right words to get his point across at a reasonable pace and tempo for young emerging readers. The rhyming throughout the story adds to the meaning and supports children while they are reading the story. The illustrations add to the story in ways that children will be able to pick up on, Spookley’s emotions although noted in the text are conveyed more throughout the illustrations. Theses emotions are extremely relatable for each child who picks up the book The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin. Through the story children are able to conceptualize the importance of being accepting and that it is not tolerable to bully someone because they are different than you. The idea of tolerability and acceptance is extremely important to emphasize throughout childhood and even into adulthood.

            The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin is a children’s fantasy story. The story describes the setbacks of being different and how it affects an individual through the character, Spookley. Although Spookley is a pumpkin many children are able to relate to the character. When Spookley’s other pumpkin friends are rolling around having fun in the patch Spookley is sitting there watching them, this often occurs with children who are disabled and may be restrained to a wheelchair. These children have gifts and talents, but are often times taken for granted until there is a situation in which their talents can be showcased, like Spookley blocking the hole in the fence. This story is fantasy in the sense that pumpkins don’t bully each other, nor are there square, blue, or rainbow pumpkins, but the overall concept of the story is becoming more and more relevant in today’s society. The theme is one of acceptance of others who may be different and that often times being diverse is one of the best things there is.

            I would use this story in my classroom around Halloween, because of the symbolism of pumpkins and the fall atmosphere of the story. This story would also act as a reinforcer of the anti-bullying and acceptance rules in the classroom. I would probably use this book as a read aloud and then have students think about what it would be like to be a square pumpkin, or another different type of vegetable/fruit. Depending on the grade I was teaching I may have students write a couple journal entries on how they feel taking on the emotions of this object.

Links to Massachusetts ELA Frameworks:

RL 1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

RF K.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

a. Recognize and produce rhyming words.

b. Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.

W K.3 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.

W 1.3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.