Invisible Inkling: Dangerous Pumpkins
by Emily Jenkins
Hardcover, 160 pages
Published: July 24, 2012
by Balzer + Bray
ISBN: 0061802239
Book source: Publisher
4 Stars
Book Summary from Goodreads: It’s Halloween. Fourth grader Hank Wolowitz “hates” Halloween. Every year his older sister, Nadia, scares him half to death.
This year might be different, though. After all, Hank’s the only kid in Brooklyn–probably the only kid in North America–with an invisible bandapat living in his laundry basket. And Invisible Inkling “loves” Halloween. Pumpkins are his favorite food.
But Hank has serious trouble stopping Inkling from devouring every jack-o’-lantern in their neighborhood. And that’s not his only problem: Will he figure out a cool costume? Will he survive the small army of ballerinas roaming the hallways of his building? Will Hank ever get revenge on Nadia?
Inkling has long since stopped listening to Hank’s worries.
Inkling is taking action.
Cathy’s review: Hank is just your normal 4th grader, but Hank hates Halloween. Every year, when his parents pick the Halloween ice cream flavor for their ice cream shop, they never listen to Hank’s ideas, but they always listen to his 16 year-old sister Nadia’s. And they always make him go trick-or-treating with Nadia. The last couple of years Nadia and her friends have scared Hank and then taken all of his candy. This is why Hank hates Halloween. He’s hoping that this year will be different though, last year his dad promised that he and Hank would sis down and talk about Hank’s ideas for the Halloween ice cream flavor. Hank also has a secret weapon this year: he has an invisible Bandapat. What is a Bandapat you ask, I’m not quite sure, I do know that it’s invisible and it enjoys eating squash, most particularly pumpkins. This becomes a problem for Hank quite quickly, because it’s Halloween and everyone has a pumpkin they’ve carved and set on their porch. Hank must come up with an idea, and quick, to keep Inkling his Bandapat from eating every pumpkin in sight.
This was a cute book. I read this one to our kids (6 and 12) before bedtimes this week. We were able to read it fairly quickly, even out loud. The kids enjoyed hearing about the Bandapat and kind of making up our own idea about just what it is. We cared about the characters in the book, our 12 year-old told me on the last day that we read that she didn’t like Inkling because he was mean to Nadia. I thought it was funny, she’s like me, she likes to know her characters and either likes them or doesn’t like them! This was a cute read-aloud story to get ready for Halloween!
Content: clean
About the author: Emily Jenkins is the author of Invisible Inkling, the first book featuring Hank and Inkling. She has also written the chapter books Toys Go Out, Toy Dance Party, and Toys Go Home, plus a lot of picture books., including The Little Bit Scary People, That New Animal, and Five Creatures. She has worn the same butterfly costume for the past nine Halloweens, and if she has an invisible friend – she’s not telling.
Find out more about author Emily Jenkins: Goodreads/ Website