Big Pumpkin

By: Erica Silverman

Narrated by: John McDonough

Length: 13 mins

Publisher's summary

The old witch wants a pumpkin pie. First she plants a pumpkin seed. She weeds and waters and waits. A tiny sprout pokes through the ground, and soon a small pumpkin appears. It grows, and it grows some more. When Halloween is only hours away, the witch decides it is finally time to bake the pie. But first she must somehow pull the huge pumpkin off the vine.

With her fun-filled tale, popular children’s author Erica Silverman teaches a gentle lesson in friendship and cooperation. Narrator John McDonough’s lively portrayal of the old witch and each of her spooky companions will have youngsters laughing out loud.

©1992 Erica Silverman (P)1998 Recorded Books, LLC

NOT THE NARRATION I WANTED

I used to have this as a scholastic book on tape. It was wonderful. This narrator is awful. It lacks the sing songy approach that was so wonderful in the other.

good

wish out was more like the audio that came with the book and was more musical

Not what I thought I was getting...

I thought this was the fun song version that I love so much. This narrator is okay, but pretty blah compared to the other version. The turn-the-page chime was nice.

Big Pumpkin

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a delightful book for children. I read it to my second grade class and also to a kindergarten class. They were all wide eyed and all smiles through out the whole story. A great Halloween story for children. I also did a reading to a group of women as a program and they thought it was delightful too.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The witch was my favorite character, but all the characters were full of life and played a big role in the story.

Which character – as performed by John McDonough – was your favorite?

The bat was well done by the performer John McDonough, but the whole book was great.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

It's big and is mine and it is stuck on the vine.

Any additional comments?

Thank you for having the book and CD so I could purchase it and get it so quickly.

Not the original recoding!

This is not the original narration that is sung!!! I am very disappointed! The narration is spoken and dull!!

Narration for this version is horrible.

How could the performance have been better?

He was monotone and drab. No child will ever listen to this. I made it through a few lines of the sample and had to turn it off.

Any additional comments?

Amazing book, horrible voice narration.

Will put you to sleep

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I've heard an audio version of this book that was great, it was a catchy song. However in this particular version the man prnounces every word so slowly that if you try to play it for your child they will probably fall asleep before the end of the secound page, maybe the first sentance if they're actually tired to begin with

What did you like best about this story?

I LOVE the story, I bought the adio to go along with the book that I already had. I like the teamwork.

Not the song!!

Would you try another book from Erica Silverman and/or John McDonough?

Big Pumpkin is one of my favorite Halloween Books of all time, but not this version!

What didn’t you like about John McDonough’s performance?

A cure for insomnia. This book is one of my favorites and I love the flow. This was read word by word, obviously so a child could follow along, but all of the joy of the story was left behind by the slow drone of the narrator's voice.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I am extremely disappointed in this recording of the book. I wish that it was available on Audible in the original format sold by Scholastic books years ago!