London, Jonathan. (2019). Froggy Picks a Pumpkin. Viking Books for Young Readers.
I will be perfectly upfront that I am not a huge, huge fan of Froggy books. I know a lot of kids that read them but well, as I’ve said before, you can’t like ’em all. But I do love Fall and pumpkin patch books so, I gave it a read. My perspective didn’t change much, to be honest. Let’s get into it.
First, yes, totally related to this scene. I LOVE me some Fall. And while I don’t actually jump on my bed, as I am far too uncoordinated and broken, I feel this, deeply. Plus, his fly jammies are cute. So Froggy is super jazzed about going to school today because they are going to the pumpkin patch and there is a contest involved. Woo hoo!
The class gets to the pumpkin patch, and Froggy, being the excitable little gentleman he is, takes off without his class. But his teacher reminds him about the contest and they all get into the patch at relatively the same size to find the largest, smallest, prettiest, ugliest and best all-around pumpkin.
Froggy jumps and hops, and inspects a whole bunch of pumpkins, and falls even more often, as his classmates are choosing their favorites. (I was not impressed with his classmate Travis’s manners in the scene just before this)
Froggy chooses his perfect pumpkin, but it is a little too heavy. But he is determined! He manages to get it up into his arms, and then struggles to get it back to the bus, and as all his classmates are running with their pumpkins and he tries to hurry to keep up with them…
…he falls! Poor Froggy. I would be heartbroken at this point! And while he is not crying, he is obviously embarrassed and you wonder what is going to happen next.
Well, I am unhappy to say that they LAUGHED at him! Even his teacher laughs at them. And then they give him the ugliest pumpkin prize because of the mess. Um…yeah, that’s not much of a consolation there, Teach.
And Froggy was perfectly happy on the bus on the way home, and somehow ends up with this unbroken pumpkin in his lap. So, good for him and yay for resilience, but I also feel like, kind of like in the Critter books (which I loved as a kid) that it’s encouraging kids not to feel or react to their emotions, but to just pretend like it’s ok. Don’t get me wrong. It is OK to know things are going to be ok, but it’s also ok to feel your emotions and express them, too.
Maybe Froggy is the kind of neurodivergent that doesn’t feel things as deeply as others, or feels them in different ways, but this book left me a little unhappy with the way the characters treated each other, including a trusted adult. I don’t think it is ever too young to teach kindness, and understanding, as well as how to deal with your emotions. But if that doesn’t bite for you, like it does for me, then this might not bother you as much.
Publisher recommends these books for ages 3-7. Me? Sure…I see it as being appropriate for ages 3-5 but still not my favorite.
