The Ugly Pumpkin

Picture book, 30 pages. Published by Nancy Paulsen Books in 2017.

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Not Halloween-Scary

While not scary in the traditional Halloween sense, The Ugly Pumpkin resonates with a child's fear of being different and left out because of the difference. Similar to the Ugly Duckling fable, all it takes for Ugly Pumpkin's fears to assuaged is to learn he's not a pumpkin!  Horowitz's artistic style is bold, colorful and dynamic - Ugly Pumpkin's sadness simply oozes down his limpy arms and knock kneed legs.

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Ideas for Making it Real

Scary doesn't always mean someone jumping out at you with a "Boo!" For our little ones feeling different from others is big-time scary.

• Share the Hans Christian Andersen Ugly Duckling with your child and talk about what it must feel like to be different.
• Talk about feeling different with your child and help her to identify her feelings and talk about others she may think are different.
• The Every Mom site has a good article with great suggestions for How to Teach Kids to Recognize & Celebrate Differences.

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