Dr. Donna's Review

In a world where "The only good pumpkins are round pumpkins!" Spookley: The Square Pumpkin is often teased by the other pumpkins because of his odd shape. Soon, Spookley is befriended by Edgar, Allan and Poe, three hilarious spiders, who convince Spookley that square or not, he has a right to be the "Pick of the Patch" on Halloween. " A square pumpkin the Pick of the Patch?" Not if mean round pumpkins Big Tom and Little Tom can help it. These two bullies tease and taunt Spookley because of his square roots. Encouraged to continue to become the "Pick of the Patch" by kindly Jack the Scarecrow and his bat sidekicks, Boris and Bella, Spookley isn't sure he has what it takes until a mighty storm threatens to destroy the entire patch. As the storm rolls the round pumpkins uncontrollably across the patch towards a raging river, Spookley realizes "it's fine to be round while the weather is fair, but there are times it's better to be a square!"

THEMES & OTHER THINGS

Spookley helps everyone understand about individual differences and the value of one’s own uniqueness. When all of the round pumpkins get into danger, it is Spookley who, using both his uniqueness and his ingenuity, saves everyone.  Spookley’s story also helps us understand that bullying, name-calling and rejection are hurtful. When all the round pumpkins acknowledge that Spookley is a hero because he is different and that he was able to do what no other pumpkin could do, even Little Tom, the bully of the pumpkin patch, relents and apologizes to Spookley.

This story will appeal to both boys and girls and will appeal to a wide age group. Children as young as three will enjoy the story and understand the basic message.  Children from 5 to 7 will especially enjoy it and even older siblings, i.e. 8 and 9 year olds who may find it too young for their taste, will enjoy sharing the movie with their younger siblings.  All ages will respond to the special appeal that Halloween has for children.
The animation in Spookley the Square Pumpkin is lovely, the colors are rich and bold and the characters are simple and appealing.  In addition to the pumpkins and Jack the scarecrow, there are several other appealing characters such as Bella and Boris the purple bats that are brother and sister, the spiders Edgar, Allen and Poe and a trio of singing honeydew melons.  The film has several well-produced songs that highlight the story points.                

Recent child development research has identified seven essential skills – life skills - that children need to prepare them for the complexities of life. (1)
Several of these skills are modeled by the characters in Spookley the Square Pumpkin and serve as the themes for our discussion.  We will take a look at scenes from the stories that illustrate these skills in action. We encourage you to discuss the scenes and the skills with your children. In so doing, you will help to raise their awareness and help them learn these important life skills. 

USING SPOOKLEY'S STORY
TO TALK ABOUT LIFE SKILLS:

• TAKING ON CHALLENGES – “Children who are willing to take on challenges do better in school and in life.”
• Spookley admits to the three spiders that he is afraid that he can’t compete in the Jack-O-Lympics, but the spiders sing him a special song that embodies the twin messages about believing in yourself and that you don’t know what you can do until you try. Talk with your children about how Spookley overcomes his fear and takes on the challenge of participating in the Jack-O-Lympics.              

• PERSPECTIVE TAKING – “Perspective taking goes far beyond empathy; it involves figuring out what others think and feel”
• Research has shown that children who are taught to think about the effect of his or her behavior on another person are less likely to engage in aggressive behavior or engage in bullying.  Little Tom and Big Tom are aggressive toward Spookley. They call him names, humiliate him and try to reject him from the group.  They never stop to think about how their behavior affects Spookley.  Talk with children about how Spookley feels when they say, “he’s not like us,” and “he’s a freak of nature.”  Ask them to think about why Little Tom and Big Tom would say such things. Help children think through both the behavior of Little Tom and Big Tom and its impact on Spookley.

• CRITICAL THINKING “is the ongoing search for valid and reliable knowledge to guide our beliefs and actions.”

• Spookley shows his ability to figure out how to solve the problems that occur after the big thunderstorm hits the pumpkin patch.  He makes the connections between the location of the water tank and the need to get the water to the right place to put out the fire that is threatening Jack. He also uses critical thinking skills to figure out that he needs to get in front of one of the wheels in order to stop the cart full of pumpkins headed toward the river.  Talk with children about how Spookley thinks through these problems in order to come up with solutions. Talk with children about how he uses “if I do this, then this will happen.”  Encourage them to come up with alternative ways to solve the different problems that they encounter.

OTHER THINGS TO TALK ABOUT

The story provides many opportunities to talk with children about being different and being unique. Spookley sums it up with a song: “If I were round then I would be more like them and less like me.”   Learning to accept and take pleasure in being unique is a topic that children need to think about and talk about throughout their growing years. 
Some ideas to start discussions with children after seeing the film include:

• Why did the other pumpkins reject Spookley as soon as they saw him?
• Although Spookley looked different from the other pumpkins, could you still tell that he was a pumpkin?
• Big Tom and Little Tom were especially mean to Spookley.  What did they do that made Spookley feel bad?
• Other characters in the story tried to help Spookley.  Who were they and how was their behavior different from the behavior of Big Tom and Little Tom?
• How did Spookley’s uniqueness enable him to save Jack and the other pumpkins?

• Ask children to talk about their own unique qualities and how they might build on those qualities.

BOOK SUGGESTIONS

These books are recommended to encourage you to read to and with children about the themes from Spookley the Square Pumpkin.

The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano
(Perspective Taking and Taking on Challenges)

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? By Bill Martin (Perspective Taking)

Llama, Llama Red Pajama by: Anna Dewdney (Taking on Challenges)

The Duck Song by: Bryant Oden (Critical Thinking)

How to Take the Grr out of Anger by Elizabeth Verdick (Perspective Taking)

Reference:
(1) Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs.  Written by Ellen Galinsky. Published by HarperStudio and imprint of Harper Collins:N.Y. 2010