Friends, I have Halloween fever. Seriously, every time I go to the store I want to buy all of the holiday things. I also want to read all of the Halloween books and review them. Lucky for me, some are super short, super fun and fit perfectly into my schedule. Invisible Inkling: Dangerous Pumpkins by Emily Jenkins (dear readers, you may know her better as E.Lockhart) was an adorable Halloween read, that while not exactly scary by any means, was totally heartwarming.
Hank Wolowitz is a fourth grader lives in Brooklyn with his family who owns the Big Round Pumpkin ice cream shop. His best friend is an invisible bandapat named Inkling who lives with Hank and stirs up trouble. Hank is not a huge fan of Halloween. You see, every year his sister Nadia boos him and it totally scares the daylights out of him. To make matters worse, Inkling LOVES to eat pumpkins and so sees Jack O’Lanterns as free for the taking, so Hank has his hands full trying to prevent Inkling from wreaking havoc on the neighborhood stoops.
Hank’s a sweet character. Sure he gets pretty angry at Nadia, but if you read about the crap she does, you’d probably get angry too. What I especially liked about Hank is that he’s kind of a lonely kid. Besides Inkling, he does not really have any friends. Sure, he has acquaintances, but no best friends or clique or anything. As someone who used to be a lonely little kid, I felt kind of a kinship with Hank. In the end though, I was rooting for him to make friends and experience a bit of triumph. So, I guess if you or your child or students like characters to root for, you’ll enjoy Invisible Inkling: Dangerous Pumpkins by Emily Jenkins.
Invisible Inkling: Dangerous Pumpkins contains illustrations by Harry Bliss in every chapter. The illustrations are black and white, make good use of shading and look to have been done with pencil. I thought they added a bit of friendliness to the book, if that makes sense. As a reader with a soft spot for unicorns, my favorite illustration is on page 38 of the hardcover version, it’s got a bandapat riding a unicorn which cracks me up.
I have not read the first Invisible Inkling book, yet was totally fine and easily able to follow along with Dangerous Pumpkins. It’s totally able to stand alone and not at all confusing, whether you are an adult or a child, you should be perfectly able to follow the plot without being lost. If you are looking for a Halloween treat for your child that isn’t going to give them nightmares, but rather teaches a great lesson about family and friends, I definitely recommend Invisible Inkling: Dangerous Pumpkins by Emily Jenkins, especially for the 2nd-6th grade set.
Disclosure: Received for review.
Other reviews of Invisible Inkling: Dangerous Pumpkins by Emily Jenkins:
The YA Bookcase – “This book made me laugh”
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Can you see any of E. Lockhart in this book? Because I really love E. Lockhart and I’m wondering how differently she writes when writing for kids.