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No More Pumpkins
By Peter Catalanotto, Pamela Schembri Henry Holt and Company
Copyright © 2007 Peter Catalanotto and Pamela Schembri
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4668-7070-3
CHAPTER 1
Mr. Marvin's Big Idea
Emily was tired of pumpkins.
In her second-grade class they had weighed pumpkins, measured pumpkins, and counted seeds from pumpkins.
They went to a pumpkin farm.
They tasted pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin soup.
They heard pumpkin stories.
They wrote pumpkin poems.
Everything was pumpkin.
Pumpkin. Pumpkin. Pumpkin.
"I wish we could just carve jack-o'-lanterns," Emily said to her friend Vinni at recess.
"Yeah," said Vinni. "I can't wait. Mine's going to be a witch."
"Really?" asked Emily. "How will you do that?"
"I'll just draw it and cut it," said Vinni. "But I'm going to add a sparkly hat and earrings."
"Neat!" said Emily. "Maybe I'll make mine a cat."
Vinni jumped off her swing. "Hey! Tomorrow's your birthday party. Guess what I got you?"
"What?"
Vinni smiled. "A big, ripe pumpkin!"
Emily laughed and chased her inside the school building.
When they got back to class, their teacher Mr. Marvin had twenty-one pumpkins on the front table.
"Now what?" asked Vinni. She hung her coat in her cubby.
"Great," Emily said. "More pumpkins."
"Mr. Marvin!" Vinni called. "Did the pumpkin fairy visit us again?"
Mr. Marvin was not amused. "That's funny, Vincetta Louise. Sit down, everyone. This afternoon we are going to make jack-o'-lanterns."
"Yes!" the class cheered.
"But, we will not carve them."
The room went silent. Emily was confused. She scrunched her nose.
"Mr. Marvin," Vinni said, "you have to carve a jack-o'-lantern!"
"Vincetta Louise," Mr. Marvin said, "you have to raise your hand." He picked up a pumpkin. "Each of you will get one pumpkin. You can use paint, markers, yarn, glue, felt, beads, and buttons to make the pumpkin look" — Mr. Marvin was nodding — "like yourself." He had a huge grin on his face.
Emily had never seen Mr. Marvin smile so big.
He looked just like a jack-o'-lantern.
CHAPTER 2
Pumpkin Portraits
The students pushed their desks together into groups of three. Emily sat with Vinni and Julia. Julia lived near Vinni. They rode the bus together.
"Before I hand out pumpkins," said Mr. Marvin, "I want you to write in your journals. Think of five descriptive words —"
"What's a descriptive word?" Vinni called out.
Mr. Marvin sighed. He looked at Vinni and raised his hand. Vinni slowly raised her hand and waited.
"Write five words to describe yourself," said Mr. Marvin. "Think of those words when you decorate your pumpkin."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from No More Pumpkins by Peter Catalanotto, Pamela Schembri. Copyright © 2007 Peter Catalanotto and Pamela Schembri. Excerpted by permission of Henry Holt and Company.
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