"The Man Who Lived Alone", "The Pumpkin Patch" and "Pumpkin Jack"

October is Pumpkin Month and I'm getting in the right mood.

Pumpkin Jack
5 stars
Author/Illustrator: Will Hubbell

Pumpkin Jack is a jack o lantern, carved by a boy named Tim. Like all carved pumpkins, Jack gradually decays. Tim buries him. A vine grows producing new pumpkins and Tim has his Pumpkin Jack back again.
This is an excellent, fun way to introduce a plant life cycle.
The illustrations are colorful and inviting. Jack's slow demise is vivid. The new vine invites wonder.

The Pumpkin Patch
4 stars
Author/Photographer: Elizabeth King

Excellent photographs and simple text lead the reader through the growing, harvesting and selling of pumpkins by a small time farmer. There are lots of things about going to a pumpkin patch and looking over a wide array of pumpkins and gourds. It makes visiting a pumpkin patch so inviting.

The Man Who Lived Alone
3 stars
Author: Donald Hall
Illustrator: Mary Azarian

Society encourages people to be part of the group. Not everyone wants to join. This man wants to live on his own and makes a life for himself living alone. He may live alone, but he is not lonely as he is comfortable in his life.
The illustrations are black and white with a look of being woodcuts, although they aren't.
They do a good job illustrating the story, but give it a darker feel than the man's life warrants.