Toht has a nice sense of rhyme in her books, and I enjoy her vivid and retro-ish illustrations.

This was a fun things online book about pumpkin picking and pumpkin carving. In particular the illustrations are beautiful to look at. This would be fun not just at bedtime, not just at Halloween, but at story time all through the year. ( )

There illustrations were charming, but the rhyming text didn’t always work well when read out loud. But overall, a nice Halloween picture book.. ( )

American author Patricia Toht and British illustrator Jarvis, the team who produced Pick a Pine Tree in 2017, return with this new rhyming holiday picture-book. The text describes a visit to a pumpkin patch, the carving of a jack-o-lantern, and the preparation for Halloween festivities, while the lovely illustrations depict a mixed-race family at the center of a crowd of friends and fellow celebrants, all getting prepared for the big night...

With a rhyming text that reads well - "Let grown-ups cut the top a bit, / big enough for hands to fit. / Reach down deep into the hole, / grab the seeds and give a pull. / Lumpy chunks. Sticky string. / Clumpy seeds. Guts and things. / With a spoon, scrape sides neatly. / Clean the inside out completely" - and bright artwork that boasts plenty of beautiful autumnal colors, Pick a Pumpkin is a lovely new picture-book for Halloween time, and would make an excellent read-aloud selection at story-time. I am a little surprised that it was published so early in the year - it officially released two days ago (on July 9th) - but then, that's a sign of the times, I suppose. In two weeks time they'll probably have Christmas cards for sale at the stationary store. Recommended to anyone looking for new Halloween picture-books for this coming fall. ( )